Sammy Lee believes Liverpool can get back to their glory days in the league.
The Reds assistant manager - who was part of the famous Liverpool sides that lifted the league in the early 80s - returned to Anfield earlier in the summer as boss Rafa Benitez's right-hand man.
He knows how much the club wants a first-ever Premier League crown, and believes they are not far off achieving this aim.
While the Reds will have to overhaul Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal for top spot, Lee believes they can better these sides.
He told the club's official website: "They are three very good teams. Only results will prove whether I'm right or wrong, but I feel that we need to be looking to be not just as good as, but better than those three.
"We just need that little stroke of luck, that little attention to detail, and you never know.
"We are not that far away and I feel we have proven on many occasions over the past four or five years that we can be better than them. Not as good as - but better."
Liverpool came within 11 points of eventual champions Manchester United last term, their nearest finish since 2002.
Lee added: "That shows we are getting closer. I have never been one for making promises. There are enough people out there who give promises and I would never do that.
"But what I would say is that I feel we are going in the right way. I feel with just a little bit of tweaking here and there we will not be far off.
"Only time will tell, but what I will say is that everyone is striving and working hard to try and make sure that we can close that gap and overhaul it."
Lee is delighted to be back at Liverpool - who he left in 2004 to take up an England role - after a stint as Bolton manager did not work out last term.
He added: "It's not easy to get back into the game, so to get the chance to come back here was the greatest honour I could ever receive.
"To be perfectly honest, it wasn't very easy for me to leave here in the first place - I just thought it was the right thing to do at that particular moment in time.
"I was very proud and very honoured to be given the Bolton manager's job and it was great to work with Sam Allardyce, it really was.
"That sense of pride and honour was only outweighed by the sense of disappointment that it didn't go well.
"I wanted to do well, but everybody was superb. The fans at Bolton were fantastic both to me, my family and the players at that time. I think they saw what we were trying to do, even if the results didn't mirror that."
He added he was disappointed that some people only saw him as ever being a number two.
"I don't think that's true. I thought I'd served an apprenticeship as a coach, reserve team coach, first team coach, assistant manager - it's not a natural progression but I thought it was part of my apprenticeship," said Lee, who has not ruled out a return to management.
"I have to be careful when I say I'd like to be a manager again because people might think I want to do it here when the top man's already here and doing a terrific job, or people might think I'm angling to go somewhere else when I'm not.
"At this precise moment in time, all I'm looking for is to try and do the best I can for Liverpool Football Club, to be a good help to Rafa and the players and to try and get us back to where I certainly believe we belong."
The Reds assistant manager - who was part of the famous Liverpool sides that lifted the league in the early 80s - returned to Anfield earlier in the summer as boss Rafa Benitez's right-hand man.
He knows how much the club wants a first-ever Premier League crown, and believes they are not far off achieving this aim.
While the Reds will have to overhaul Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal for top spot, Lee believes they can better these sides.
He told the club's official website: "They are three very good teams. Only results will prove whether I'm right or wrong, but I feel that we need to be looking to be not just as good as, but better than those three.
"We just need that little stroke of luck, that little attention to detail, and you never know.
"We are not that far away and I feel we have proven on many occasions over the past four or five years that we can be better than them. Not as good as - but better."
Liverpool came within 11 points of eventual champions Manchester United last term, their nearest finish since 2002.
Lee added: "That shows we are getting closer. I have never been one for making promises. There are enough people out there who give promises and I would never do that.
"But what I would say is that I feel we are going in the right way. I feel with just a little bit of tweaking here and there we will not be far off.
"Only time will tell, but what I will say is that everyone is striving and working hard to try and make sure that we can close that gap and overhaul it."
Lee is delighted to be back at Liverpool - who he left in 2004 to take up an England role - after a stint as Bolton manager did not work out last term.
He added: "It's not easy to get back into the game, so to get the chance to come back here was the greatest honour I could ever receive.
"To be perfectly honest, it wasn't very easy for me to leave here in the first place - I just thought it was the right thing to do at that particular moment in time.
"I was very proud and very honoured to be given the Bolton manager's job and it was great to work with Sam Allardyce, it really was.
"That sense of pride and honour was only outweighed by the sense of disappointment that it didn't go well.
"I wanted to do well, but everybody was superb. The fans at Bolton were fantastic both to me, my family and the players at that time. I think they saw what we were trying to do, even if the results didn't mirror that."
He added he was disappointed that some people only saw him as ever being a number two.
"I don't think that's true. I thought I'd served an apprenticeship as a coach, reserve team coach, first team coach, assistant manager - it's not a natural progression but I thought it was part of my apprenticeship," said Lee, who has not ruled out a return to management.
"I have to be careful when I say I'd like to be a manager again because people might think I want to do it here when the top man's already here and doing a terrific job, or people might think I'm angling to go somewhere else when I'm not.
"At this precise moment in time, all I'm looking for is to try and do the best I can for Liverpool Football Club, to be a good help to Rafa and the players and to try and get us back to where I certainly believe we belong."
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