Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher said that the Reds won't be taking anything for granted despite holding a healthy lead at the top of the Premier League table heading into Sunday's meeting with Southampton.
The Reds went into the international break with a five-point lead at the top of the table after picking up 28 points from a possible 33 and are heavily fancied to continue their brilliant start against the division's bottom side.
However, Kelleher — who is set to keep his place in the side against Southampton, with Alisson still not ready to return from a hamstring injury — is well aware that a long campaign lies ahead and acknowledged that Liverpool's players can't afford to get carried away with their good start.
“We’re not going to take anything for granted," Kelleher told club media. "I know maybe the outside is already making some noise about us being so far ahead in the league now, but we don’t really think about that.
Southampton weather warning issued ahead of Liverpool game as several matches called off I rejected $28million transfer to Liverpool and ended up regretting it“We know we can’t take our foot off the gas for one second because we’ll get punished. Our focus is on Southampton first and then trying to get some wins.”
Arne Slot praised Southampton and manager Russell Martin during his pre-match press conference on Friday, saying that Saints are better than their results so far suggest, and Kelleher echoed the words of the Reds' head coach.
“We as players and the staff as well know we’re not silly,” he said. “We know how good they are and the quality that these players have. I think sometimes the results don’t reflect the quality that’s in the actual team.
“You need to take every team in this league very seriously or else you’ll end up not getting good results. We’re going to prepare as if we’re playing a Man City or a Chelsea or an Arsenal. For teams like that we’re going to prepare the exact same and give it our all.”
Kelleher also spoke about his and his teammates' desire to get their hands on the biggest prizes in soccer, as he noted that there are not too many players left in the current squad who were part of the Champions League and Premier League-winning squads of 2019 and 2020 respectively.
“There’s obviously I think a big hunger in us to win more trophies and really compete at the highest level,” he said. “A lot of that squad has departed now so there’s not too many of the squad in there who have tasted Premier League or Champions League success.
“There’s a lot of hunger in this new squad to achieve those kind of things. We know we have the quality, but we need to go out and show it. Definitely there is a lot of hunger throughout the whole squad.”
