Joe Gomez: Clean sheet was our focal point
Joe Gomez was delighted to have helped Liverpool back up three points with a clean sheet as they beat Stoke City 3-0 on Wednesday evening.
Despite having lost just two Premier League games all season prior to their meeting with Mark Hughes' team, the Reds were yet to register a shut-out on the road.
But they did so at the seventh attempt last night, and in trying circumstances as they faced an aerial barrage focused around Peter Crouch at the Bet365 Stadium.
Speaking after the game, Gomez paid tribute to his teammates' role in keeping the striker largely quiet, and underlined the importance of keeping more clean sheets going forward.
He told Liverpoolfc.com: "We know it’s always a tough place to come here away to Stoke and that is why it’s an important win for us.
"We got the clean sheet and that was our main focus at 3-0 up to try and see it out and obviously they had the chance at the end but we are happy we kept it.
"We have let a few leads slip and as a back four it’s one of our focal points in an away game. As soon as we score we think, 'let’s keep a clean sheet', because if you do that you win, so it’s massive for us.
"Hopefully we can try and keep as many as we can.
"We knew we had to be compact and, in the aerial battle, cover for [Crouch] because it’s a high possibility he will win the header, so we have to be ready for what comes in behind. I think we did quite well.
"They obviously had some chances but generally I thought we did well and Dejan, Emre and Joel won a lot of headers against him which is not an easy task."
LFCTV GO: Watch highlights of the Reds' win over Stoke
The 20-year-old also went on to hail the contributions of two men at the opposite end of the pitch - Dominic Solanke and Mohamed Salah.
Solanke, who joined Gomez in making his full England debut during the last international break, marked his first Premier League start for the club with an assist for Sadio Mane's opener and was the width of the post away from setting up a second.
The defender said of his compatriot: "It was nice to share the moment with Solanke for England and here as well.
"He’s a top player and we have gone through the youth stages and so on so I know him well.
"I’m happy for him that he got a start today and hopefully we can both keep on pushing."
And on Salah, who came off the bench to net the second and third goals, Gomez said: "It shows the depth of this squad.
"He’s in amazing form and the goals he brings to the team are massive for us.
"Not just him, our attacking force is so strong and we still had him to bring on. Especially in this period now it’s going to be gruelling so we all have to be ready to do our bit."
Jürgen Klopp's team have now gone seven games unbeaten in all competitions since a disappointing defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley last month.
Gomez is out to keep that run going, and added: "That momentum and confidence can carry you through and it just means more points are up for grabs.
"It’s going to be a make or break period in terms of challenging and that is what we want to try and do, to capitalise on the points available and hopefully we can keep on a decent run and get as many as we can."