Allen: There are no distractions for LFC
Joe Allen is adamant that nothing will distract Liverpool from their preparations for the final six games of 2013-14, starting at West Ham United this weekend.
The Reds have half-a-dozen fixtures left to contest this term and though much is being written and said about the eight-match winning run of Brendan Rodgers' side, none of that will take their eye off the ball.
Allen told Liverpoolfc.com: "It's probably why we're all saying 'focus' is the key word. You'll be sick of hearing it, but the truth is you don't want anything to distract you at this stage.
"Anything out there we want to use and use as inspiration, if anything.
"There'll be no distracting us, we're all looking forward to the journey and the adventure that is between now and the end of the season."
Liverpool will go into the encounter against a West Ham side that have been bolstered by consecutive victories.
The Hammers currently occupy a mid-table position, but Allen doubts that will impact Sunday's game.
"It won't have any bearing on anything from our point of view; we can't expect that to be the case," he said.
"Obviously you hope it will affect their performance, of course, but our preparations will be exactly the same.
"We're all really looking forward to getting on the road and giving everything to try and bring home the three points."
West Ham is currently home to three former Liverpool players in the form of Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Joe Cole.
Allen added: "They'll be a threat, there's no doubt about that. They're players who we know really well; hopefully that will work for us as there'll be no surprises from that point of view.
"It'll be great to see them once the game is done and dusted, but we need to remain completely focused on the task of dealing with those players and the rest of their team as well."
In last season's corresponding fixture, Liverpool emerged 3-2 winners in a closely-fought contest in East London.
A similar outcome will do just nicely, says Allen.
"Those are the type of games that maybe in the past you go on to lose," reflected the Welshman.
"They're crazy games in some ways, but on that day we showed the character to get the three points - and we'll certainly need similar characteristics going into this weekend's game.
"We have to approach every game exactly the same, with the same intensity that we've shown recently in order to get those three points."