Joe Cole admits Liverpool's players cannot afford to rest on their laurels with the Barclays Premier League opener against Arsenal only a week away. The Reds completed the easiest of 4-0 aggregate victories over Rabotnicki after beating the Macedonians 2-0 at Anfield on Thursday night in their Europa League third qualifying round second-leg tie.
When the Reds next appear at Anfield it will be on Sunday week when they host Arsenal in what is the biggest fixture of the opening weekend of the league season.
However, the start of the previous campaign under former manager Rafael Benitez set the tone as they lost two of their first three matches and went on to post their worst Premier League finish, seventh, for over a decade.
This time around is even tougher with the Gunners and both Manchester clubs to play in the first five fixtures.
"We've had two [competitive] games now and we've got Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Pepe Reina and the others to come back," said Cole.
"We've got a lot to work on and there is a lot for us to do. We've got to come together and continue to improve.
"We have to keep working hard every day on the training pitch and go from there. We know we've got a long way to go.
"You can't assess anything on the first six games of the season, you have to judge us in May.
"All Premier League games are tough; sometimes the ones that seem easier are the ones that turn out to be the tougher ones."
