Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson believes winning ugly is just as important to their top-four aspirations as attacking victories. Having played well at Manchester City and Chelsea but returned pointless the win against Hull was vital and Henderson believes getting those results when their game is not at the highest level could be pivotal in the quest for a top-four place.
"It was important to get the year off to a good start. The most important thing was getting the three points and we got that," he said.
"On performance level, I thought we matched them (City and Chelsea) if not were better than them in the two games but you have got to get results and we weren't able to do that.
"It was important to get back to winning ways. Maybe we didn't play as well as we have done in certain games when we have won by four or five but we showed we can grind a result out when we're not at our best.
"Our aim is to make Anfield a fortress - to make it really difficult for teams when they come here.
"We've been doing that and hopefully we can keep doing that and pick up points away from home too.
"I definitely believe we can stay in that top four.
"We want to keep it going against Oldham (in the FA Cup) and then Stoke."
