Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish believes the club have made impressive progress this campaign in cup competitions and in the Premier League.
The Reds have booked a place in the Carling Cup final, and beat Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup to qualify for this weekend's tie with Championship side Brighton.
Although the Merseyside club remain outside the top four in the league they are within reach of a Champions League position, and Dalglish is satisfied with the steps forward being made at Anfield.
"The players deserve every credit," he told Liverpool's official website.
"They've had a relatively successful season; they've put themselves in a good position."
"This time last year we weren't in both cup competitions and we weren't as close as four points off fourth spot."
"We're pleased with what we've done so far but we want to push on and improve where we are."
Dalglish insisted he has no intention of fielding an under-strength side at Anfield on Sunday afternoon and was preparing for a tough encounter against the Championship club.
"The competition has been a bit undermined in recent years, to be perfectly honest," he said.
"For us, it's a pride you take in your football club - if you're playing a game you want to win it."
"We've played a strong team in both cup competitions but we do have a strong squad."
"Most of the players in the squad have played a significant part in the cup competitions this year. We'll go out to win the game."
Liverpool beat Brighton back in September, and Dalglish is fully aware of the challenge Gus Poyet's side represents, even though the Premier League team has a home advantage.
"We have got a really difficult game coming up on Sunday," said Dalglish.
"We've played them already in the League Cup away and we did particularly well on the night to overcome that, but this will be a hard game."
"Although we have the advantage of being at home with fabulous support behind us, we still need to produce the goods on the pitch. Everybody knows what we stand for - we respect the competition and we respect Brighton."
"You can see the form for yourself. They've done well. They're ninth in the league but it's a really tight league. I think there are only eight points between them and top spot."
"They want to play a bit of football, they like to move the ball about and they got a fantastic result against Newcastle in the previous round."
"It's going to be hard for us, we might need to be patient and we'll certainly need to be committed."