While James Milner admits the Europa League final is 'in sight', the Liverpool vice-captain knows the team's momentum has to continue if they are to maintain a chance of silverware.

A 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Thursday night confirmed a satisfying 3-1 aggregate result for the Reds over their rivals and with it a place in the last eight.

Having narrowly missed out on the Capital One Cup at Wembley, the desire to lift a trophy is stronger than ever among the squad – but Milner insists work must first be done to be in that kind of position.

He told Liverpoolfc.com post-match: “The final is in sight now. But we just need to keep going and see who we get in the draw.

“There are a lot of good teams in there; you don’t get to this stage of the competition without being a top side. It would be nice to get to another final.

“Everyone is in this dressing room to win trophies and that’s what the club is used to doing. We need to get ourselves in a position to do that.

“Hopefully we can kick on, keep grinding out the results, get through the next round and then you’re definitely getting very close.”

Jürgen Klopp’s team did far more than grind their way to eliminating United, with goalkeeper David de Gea again making a string of saves – just as he did at Anfield in the first leg.

Milner and co were ultimately rewarded for seeking the goal at Old Trafford that they knew would leave the hosts needing at least four to prevent Liverpool from going through.

“We played better in the first leg but it was game management,” the No.7 continued. “They got the goal in the first half and probably had control; we didn’t really get into the game.

“But a bit of magic from Phil [Coutinho] just before half-time was a great time to score. We always knew to stay calm, even if they got the first goal. We knew one goal was going to make it difficult for them.

“To get it just before half-time took the sting out of the crowd. We played a bit better in the second half, both teams probably had chances as well but we probably could have put it out of sight.

“Their ‘keeper again had a good game and made a couple of great saves, one in particular from Phil in the first half, low down.

“Job done, that was the main thing. We’re disappointed not to win the game but I thought it was a good professional performance and we did enough to go through.”

Coutinho’s intervention in the closing moments of the first half was the decisive incident of the second leg, extinguishing the hope in the home side following Anthony Martial’s penalty.

The Brazilian had been denied by De Gea on several occasions in the opening game of the tie but produced a confident dinked finish that caught the ‘keeper and everyone else unaware.

Milner said: “He’s a top player, we know that. He’s still young and he’ll keep getting better. That’s the pleasing thing. He’s a great guy, he’s got a good attitude and he’ll keep learning.

“He can do things like that at times when you need it. The big players do it at the moments you need it. We’d had chances and not taken them, and then he comes up with a bit of magic like that.”