Rafael Benitez believes Liverpool kept their Premier League title ambitions alive with the last-gasp victory over Derby on Boxing Day.
Benitez is unmoved by the good fortune that saw captain Steven Gerrard claim a winner in the last few seconds to secure a victory at Pride Park that had not looked like coming.
With Arsenal and Chelsea both drawing, Benitez knows his team have inched closer to their own unlikely dream as they are now nine points behind leaders Manchester United with a match in hand.
It is still only a slim chance but after Liverpool's second victory in five days Benitez is clearly not bothered about how the wins arrive in packed schedule.
Fernando Torres scored an impressive opener, his 15th in 18 games, before Liverpool-born Evertonian Jay McEveley gave Derby a second-half lifeline with an equaliser.
Gerrard's heroics with his 11th in 14 matches eventually ended the Rams' hopes of a miracle victory.
But Benitez said: "I cannot be disappointed with another three points, I am really pleased. People forget in football the days when you play really well and get nothing.
"We were the best team in the first half, we were the best team at the end. In three months' time nobody will remember, nobody will talk of how we got those points, they will just see the result.
"We have been unfortunate against Chelsea at home, and Arsenal, and did not win. These points are won now and we are a little bit closer.
"When people ask if we have a realistic chance of the title they are really trying to tell me something.
"Let's wait and see. We have Manchester City next and that is very important for us.
"We have two more games over the holiday period. The most important thing for me is that we stay close.
"The question for me is to be as close as possible and we still have one game in hand. You never know what can happen."
Benitez must now cope with the likely loss of defender Sami Hyypia for a spell with a twisted ankle, the one position he does not have sufficient cover for.
"The second half was not the best for us but for me the key was winning three points and we were controlling the game for long spells," he added.
"If we had scored a second it would have been impossible for them. We lost Sami Hyypia and had players returning from injury who were not 100 per cent fit, those are some of the reasons for what happened in the second period.
"But we put ourselves under pressure by giving the ball away too often."
Benitez now has to drill into his team the need to find a killer instinct to avoid such embarrassments as Derby almost achieved and midfielder Xabi Alonso believes he and his team-mates must learn from their narrow escape.
Alonso, who made his first league start for two months, said: "We should have scored and killed the game.
"We should have kept the ball better and not let them have so many chances.
"We were in control in the first half, then we had a few injured players and we were struggling and we were not in control of the situation.
"We must not allow ourselves to be in that position again because we had chances to win the game. We have to learn and not repeat what happened at Derby again."
Alonso has made just eight appearances this season after a double metatarsal blow, and admits it has been a frustrating few months.
"When you are on the sidelines and injured, just watching, it is frustrating, but I am back now and looking forward to the next games.
"The problem is getting the match fitness that you need but I am getting there after almost three months out of the game."
For McEveley, scoring against Liverpool was not enough to make up for the shattering blow of losing a game Derby could have won.
He said: "It was nice to score against the Reds as an Evertonian but it is irrelevant now because they won - a real kick in the teeth.
"It is the way it is going for us at the moment. We were ahead twice at Newcastle and only drew, and it shows we must concentrate to the end.
"But we have shown in these last two games that we can compete in this division. It gives us confidence to go into our next game with Blackburn."
Benitez is unmoved by the good fortune that saw captain Steven Gerrard claim a winner in the last few seconds to secure a victory at Pride Park that had not looked like coming.
With Arsenal and Chelsea both drawing, Benitez knows his team have inched closer to their own unlikely dream as they are now nine points behind leaders Manchester United with a match in hand.
It is still only a slim chance but after Liverpool's second victory in five days Benitez is clearly not bothered about how the wins arrive in packed schedule.
Fernando Torres scored an impressive opener, his 15th in 18 games, before Liverpool-born Evertonian Jay McEveley gave Derby a second-half lifeline with an equaliser.
Gerrard's heroics with his 11th in 14 matches eventually ended the Rams' hopes of a miracle victory.
But Benitez said: "I cannot be disappointed with another three points, I am really pleased. People forget in football the days when you play really well and get nothing.
"We were the best team in the first half, we were the best team at the end. In three months' time nobody will remember, nobody will talk of how we got those points, they will just see the result.
"We have been unfortunate against Chelsea at home, and Arsenal, and did not win. These points are won now and we are a little bit closer.
"When people ask if we have a realistic chance of the title they are really trying to tell me something.
"Let's wait and see. We have Manchester City next and that is very important for us.
"We have two more games over the holiday period. The most important thing for me is that we stay close.
"The question for me is to be as close as possible and we still have one game in hand. You never know what can happen."
Benitez must now cope with the likely loss of defender Sami Hyypia for a spell with a twisted ankle, the one position he does not have sufficient cover for.
"The second half was not the best for us but for me the key was winning three points and we were controlling the game for long spells," he added.
"If we had scored a second it would have been impossible for them. We lost Sami Hyypia and had players returning from injury who were not 100 per cent fit, those are some of the reasons for what happened in the second period.
"But we put ourselves under pressure by giving the ball away too often."
Benitez now has to drill into his team the need to find a killer instinct to avoid such embarrassments as Derby almost achieved and midfielder Xabi Alonso believes he and his team-mates must learn from their narrow escape.
Alonso, who made his first league start for two months, said: "We should have scored and killed the game.
"We should have kept the ball better and not let them have so many chances.
"We were in control in the first half, then we had a few injured players and we were struggling and we were not in control of the situation.
"We must not allow ourselves to be in that position again because we had chances to win the game. We have to learn and not repeat what happened at Derby again."
Alonso has made just eight appearances this season after a double metatarsal blow, and admits it has been a frustrating few months.
"When you are on the sidelines and injured, just watching, it is frustrating, but I am back now and looking forward to the next games.
"The problem is getting the match fitness that you need but I am getting there after almost three months out of the game."
For McEveley, scoring against Liverpool was not enough to make up for the shattering blow of losing a game Derby could have won.
He said: "It was nice to score against the Reds as an Evertonian but it is irrelevant now because they won - a real kick in the teeth.
"It is the way it is going for us at the moment. We were ahead twice at Newcastle and only drew, and it shows we must concentrate to the end.
"But we have shown in these last two games that we can compete in this division. It gives us confidence to go into our next game with Blackburn."
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