Kolo: Reds' focus is fully on FA Cup success
Kolo Toure insists the Liverpool squad have quickly put an eventful week to their back of their minds in order to focus fully on trying to defeat West Ham United in the FA Cup on Saturday.
The Reds come into the fourth-round fixture off the back of a dramatic 5-4 win over Norwich City - sealed in injury time by Adam Lallana - and a penalty shootout success against Stoke City that secured their place in the Capital One Cup final.
However, the Ivorian defender states he and his teammates have had plenty of time to reflect on those results, and are now mentally prepared for the test posed by Slaven Bilic's men.
"When you win games in that sort of [way], you are very happy and you feel a lot of emotion," he told Liverpoolfc.com.
"But this is our job and we know that the most important thing is the next game. We had time to celebrate the semi-final and now we have to focus on the FA Cup.
"We forgot the [last] game, it's the past now, we won and we're in the final of the Capital One Cup, we'll focus on that in February.
"This is a different game, a different team to play against, and we need to adapt to that and try to win."
The Hammers will be confident of securing a fifth-round berth when they travel to Merseyside, having done the double over Jürgen Klopp's team in the Barclays Premier League this term.
But the hosts will be out for revenge at Anfield, according to Kolo, who is determined to make life difficult for West Ham over the 90 minutes.
"It's going to be a different game, we play a side who are really, really good and in the last game at home they beat us," he added.
"This is a good time to take revenge, definitely.
"We are a good team and any team coming to play against us knows that it's going to be a tough game and we will give all we have.
"[We must show] fight, commitment, resilience, determination. Give everything you've got for this game because it's a massive game."
Klopp selected an inexperienced starting XI in both the 2-2 draw with Exeter City at St James' Park and the 3-0 replay win that secured the Reds' place in the stage of the competition.
The boss has hinted at naming a similar line-up this time around but, should the young players get the nod again, they will be under no illusions as to the importance of the competition, thanks to Toure.
He explained: "I think the last game they played against Exeter, it was a tight game and very, very difficult because Exeter worked really hard.
"We know that it's a different competition and it's really special, the FA Cup is amazing.
"[The young players] realise that but we will try to help them and try to push them to realise just how important this cup is."