Arne Slot felt Liverpool showed the desire and hunger of title-winners as they moved another step closer to Premier League glory with a 2-0 win over Newcastle.
Goals in each half from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister at Anfield on Wednesday took the Reds 13 points clear at the top of the table.
The Merseysiders had looked nervy in games against Everton, Wolves and Aston Villa earlier this month but doubts seem to have been swept aside after confident wins over Manchester City and now the Magpies.
Manager Slot, who watched the game from the stands as he started a two-match touchline ban, said: “I think what impressed me most was the mental strength in both games because after Everton and Wolves, maybe after Villa a bit, people started to question us a bit.
“Normally when you get questions you see extra work rate, that is normal. But if you get a lot of compliments, eight out of 10 people get complacent. Only the ones that want to achieve something don’t, and that mentality of the two against 10 we saw tonight.
“They just found an extra gear to work even harder. We weren’t perfect but the mentality was great again, as was the squad performance – not just the team performance.”
Liverpool’s advantage has increased from seven points in the past week, thanks also to the dropping of five points by closest challengers Arsenal in their last two games.
Yet even with just 10 games remaining, Slot is not thinking about the title just yet and is already looking ahead to next week’s Champions League clash against Paris St Germain.
The Dutchman said: “I don’t know [about the title] because I don’t think that way.
“I think about PSG already and I watched them against City. I am impressed by the quality they have, they are on a similar run as we are, having hardly lost any games for a long time.
“That is my main focus. I’ll forget about the Premier League and the table for now, until the moment we’ve played PSG. Then I’ll think about the Premier League again and Southampton.”
The defeat meant Newcastle lost ground in the battle for a Champions League spot, leaving them sixth, three points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
Despite that, manager Eddie Howe was pleased with the visitors’ performance.
He said: “I thought we played pretty well. What I don’t understand was the two goals – we should never have conceded from those situations. We had enough bodies back but didn’t mark the men.
“I’m really disappointed with that aspect of our play but in between the boxes I thought we were competitive. It wasn’t our best performance but we had our moments.”
Newcastle were without striker Alexander Isak due to a groin injury but Howe is confident he will be fit before the Carabao Cup final, also against Liverpool, next month.
He said: “We certainly hope so, we don’t think it will be a big problem for him.
“It goes without saying how important he is and I think you could see that. It was a late decision, around midday, he didn’t feel right in his groin.”
