Steven Gerrard admits that Liverpool have got a fight on their hands if they are to secure a Champions League place at the end of the season.With Manchester City, Everton and Aston Villa all winning at the weekend, Liverpool have got more points to make up in their bid to take fourth spot after a 0-0 draw at Chelsea on Sunday.

Gerrard has urged his team-mates to realise that it is time to concentrate on getting that Champions League spot and to forget about the title.

"We realise now that we're facing a big challenge to finish in the top four and we've got to forget about the title and focus on fighting for fourth place," he said.

Despite the stalemate at Stamford Bridge, Liverpool were the better side throughout much of the match and their performance deserved more than a point.

However, it was their inability to turn their dominance into goals that prevented them from being the first team in four years to win a Premier League tie at Chelsea.

Gerrard, though, feels that it was an improvement on recent performances.

"It was definitely a big improvement on how we've played of late," said Gerrard. "We looked more solid defensively and I thought we were the better side over the 90 minutes and if anyone was going to win it was us.

"Certain players who have had a bit of criticism of late performed really well and I think it was a good team performance against a side that have been playing very well lately.

"There are definitely a lot of positives to take out of this game.

"I've been here before and we've been dominated for large periods of the game but I think we controlled the majority of this game and it felt as if we could have snatched it."

Liverpool were without top goalscorer Fernando Torres against Chelsea and they lacked the preditory instinct needed in front of goal.

With trips to Old Trafford and the Emirates Stadium still to come, Gerrard believes that if Liverpool show a more ruthless attacking threat they could get points off of the top two.

"When we do go to those places we've got to perform like we did yesterday and maybe an extra five or ten per cent could see us nick a win.

"I just thought we lacked that cutting edge in the final third but I can't fault many other things because it was a good performance.

"I don't think you could fault any player. In interviews a couple of days before the game I said you need every player performing close to the maximum and I think we got that."

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