Dirk Kuyt believes Saturday's resounding win over Portsmouth must represent the start of another long unbeaten run if Liverpool are to mount a genuine title challenge.

The Dutch forward admits recent defeats to Reading and Manchester United were a major setback to Liverpool's hopes, but insists the Reds are more than capable of climbing the table and putting themselves back among the Premiership challengers.

He told the Liverpool Echo, "Because of the defeats against Man United and Reading we cannot really afford any more losses.

"Now we are just looking to go on another run and if you look back at the last couple of seasons we usually finish the season well so we are looking to do the same again this time.

"We have been doing really well mostly - apart from the two games we lost - scoring lots of goals and winning most games.

"Every defeat in the league is a big one though because we just want to compete with United, Chelsea and Arsenal so we cannot lose any more games."