Reina Makes Form Claim

Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina insists the Reds are a better team now than they were this time last year.

The Reds form in the Premier League has been poor since the turn of the year but they have excelled in the Cups, winning the Carling Cup and getting to the final of the FA Cup where they face Chelsea next month.

The Reds are currently eighth in the Premier League, but the Spaniard believes the Cup success shows they are a better team than they were 12 months ago.

"There's no doubt we've improved from last season already," Reina told LFC Magazine. "We've won the Carling Cup with the possibility of a second while also qualifying for Europe.

"The target of the club is still to get back in the Champions League. But before the start of the season, if someone had said we'd win the Carling Cup, reach the final of the FA Cup, as well as getting seventh, probably most people would have taken that.

"It's always good to go back to winning days. Some people might say the Carling Cup is not that important but, at the end of the day, it's a trophy. We knocked out Stoke, Chelsea and Manchester City.

"It was not easy. So it was a well-deserved success and I was pleased to be part of it."