Rush: We earned a slice of luck

WHEN you show the kind of spirit and desire Liverpool did at Goodison on Sunday, then you deserve a bit of luck.

Maybe we were fortunate to win but getting the three points was all that mattered. We had to really fight for what we got and the work ethic of the side was tremendous.

They say luck evens itself out over the course of the season and there's no doubt we were due a break.

There have been a number of games, like Lyon away, where we deserved a lot more.

With our deflected goal, the chances Everton missed and that stunning double save from Pepe Reina, hopefully it's a sign that our luck is starting to change.

The derby win could really kick-start our season.

With Villa, Spurs, Man City and Arsenal all dropping points, it was a good weekend.

Last week it was all doom and gloom but now we're only two points off the top four.

Of course going out of the Champions League was a setback, but not qualifying for next season's competition would be a much bigger blow.

With Fernando Torres and Albert Aquilani to come into the side I'm sure performances will improve over the coming weeks and I'm confident we'll finish in the top four.

Reina has received a lot of praise for his performance on Sunday and rightly so. As far as I'm concerned he's the best goalkeeper in the Premier League and he proved that against Everton.

His double save came at a crucial time in the game and he also made a key save to ensure we held on against Debrecen last week.

Two clean sheets in a row will certainly help to build confidence.

We defended really well at Goodison and hopefully the problems from set-pieces we've seen this season are behind us. We certainly looked a lot more assured.

We can start going into games now thinking if we score one we can win.

I was always confident we would do the business on Sunday and even made a few quid out of it.

I had a £1 on us to win 2-0 at 9/1!

It was a good day all-round and now we've got to build on that at Blackburn on Saturday.

Jamie Carragher was key to Liverpool derby triumph

Jamie Carragher was outstanding in Sunday's derby.

He epitomised the attitude and commitment in the Liverpool side and you could see how desperate he was to get the three points.

He put his head in when it hurts and was everywhere, fighting for possession, determined to ensure Everton didn't get back in the game.

I bet Carragher was shattered when he woke up yesterday because he put in a tremendous amount of hard work.

He took some stick earlier in the season but Sunday proved he's back to his best.

I'll never forget meeting Bill Shankly

It's 50 years ago today that Bill Shankly was named as Liverpool's new manager.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bill at Melwood once and it's something I'll never forget.

I had only recently signed from Chester and Bill had come back to see a few familiar faces.

I'd heard all the stories from Ronnie Moran and Bob Paisley, and meeting him didn't disappoint.

He was such a massive personality and I was in awe of him.

Liverpool are the world famous club they are today thanks to Bill. He started it all off in the 1960s.

It was Bill to put the foundations in place and Bob Paisley who took the club on the next level.

People often compare the two but I don't think that's right.

I don't think Bob could have done what Bill did and vice versa.

This story has been reproduced from today’s media. It does not necessarily represent the views or position of Liverpool Football Club.