Liverpool finally got back to winning ways with a 2-1 home win over Blackburn Rovers to ease some of the mounting pressure on boss Roy Hodgson. The victory does not lift the Reds out of the relegation zone but it does mean they are just three points off seventh.
Hodgson was delighted with the application of his team in front of the home fans.
"There were elements of our play today which were quite visible in the matches we've lost or drawn," he told the club's official website. "So I don't want to suggest that everything's suddenly hunky dory.
"But it was more than deserved and I'm very, very happy with the way the team played - particularly in the first 70 minutes.
"The confidence with which players passed the ball and moved was quite surprising given our table position.
"We made it clear to everyone: this is our game, we're going to take it to you, we're going to make certain we put you under pressure, we're going to be quick to pressurise when we lose the ball.
"I thought the passing and movement was as good, if not better than it's been but we were more incisive. We got in more crosses, got more bodies into the box for crosses, we had an enormous number of corner kicks and looked dangerous from those corner kicks, which is nice to see.
"It was a big ask for the players today. It's all very well having must-win games and saying 'This is the one we need to win', but there's an opponent out there that wants to stop you. And you can never get it out of your mind how bad it's going to be if you make a mistake.
"It's been a good week because it was a good performance in Napoli and it was important to back that up today, and I'm very pleased we were able to."
All three goals were scored in a crazy five-minute period, and Hodgson was thrilled with how the Reds kept going after conceding an equaliser.
"The manner of their equaliser is the manner in which we've conceded one or two of our goals this season," said the manager.
"When it's in the back of the net you think, 'How on earth did it get there?'
"What pleased me was how quickly the players wanted to get on with the game. There was no hanging of heads and 'Oh my God here we go again'. Pepe Reina got the ball and raced up with it. That's very, very good for the future.
"We're not going to allow our heads to drop and we are going to have to continue battling because we've got ourselves at the start of this season into a perilous position, a very poor position in the league. It's nowhere near where we want to be.
"But it's going to take time because there are no games in the Barclays Premier League where you can relax and think, 'We'll win this one.'"
Hodgson admits he was anxious standing on the touchline in the closing moments of the game.
"Unfortunately in the last 20 minutes came the anxiety that comes to all teams that find themselves in a false position and desperate to move out of it," he explained.
"Victories by one-goal margins always bring a sense of relief. You know that, even though it would be terribly unjust to not win the game, football is not known for its justice. Things can happen. You can concede in the 93rd minute against a team that hasn't had one shot at goal.
"You are anxious for that final whistle. There is no doubt that there was a lot of anxiety in our play in the last 15 to 20 minutes, and that's because we're lying in the bottom three and we can't get that thought out of our heads."
