Martin Skrtel today insisted Liverpool can use their performance against Arsenal last weekend as a catalyst to drive them towards fourth place in the league table.

Despite finishing on the wrong end of Robin Van Persie's brilliance as the Gunners stole a 2-1 victory at Anfield, Skrtel believes there were more positives than negatives to take from the game despite it ending with Kenny Dalglish's men suffering their first home defeat of the campaign.

With a ten point gap having now opened between the Reds and fourth-placed Arsenal, the Slovakian defender isn't throwing in the towel on Liverpool's Champions League aspirations.

"We've qualified for the Europa League so we know we'll be in Europe next season, but we want to be playing in the Champions League," he said.

"Every player wants to play in the Champions League because it's the best competition in Europe, and maybe in the world. That is the target for us. It was our target before the start of the season and we still have a chance. We're still fighting for it.

"There is a big gap between us and fourth at the moment. We still have twelve games to play and if we still have a chance then we have to fight for it and see what happens. We have dropped too many points this season but all we can do is take things game by game."

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Skrtel insists the Reds' confidence hasn't been affected by the loss to Arsenal and backed the post-match verdict of his manager who suggested his players needed to learn the art of winning ugly.

"Our last game was a disappointing result against Arsenal, but I thought we did well," he added. "We created a lot of chances and deserved more than we got. I don't think Arsenal had big chances, they just had two moments and scored two goals to take the three points.

"There have been so many times this season we have played well and not got the points. I would prefer to play badly and get the three points. We can't do anything about that now, all we can do is put it behind us and look to take three points from Sunderland. If we play like we did against Arsenal then we'll have a chance of taking the points. I am pretty sure we will create chances, we just need to score the goals.

"Sunderland are a good side and it will be a difficult game, just like it was earlier in the season at Anfield. All we can do is look at ourselves, do the best we can do on the day and look to be successful."