Harvey Elliott admitted Liverpool had to ‘dig deep’ in the second half after coming from behind to beat Luton 4-1 at Anfield.
Liverpool fought back from a goal down at half-time to move four points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Chiedozie Ogbene’s header had threatened to cause an upset for The Hatters on Merseyside, with Liverpool wasteful around goal in the opening 45 minutes.
The Reds regrouped at the interval, however, and scored twice in two minutes after the break to turn the game around. First, Virgil van Dijk headed home from an Alexis Mac Allister set piece, before the latter turned provider again to set up Cody Gakpo.
Liverpool, who were missing a host of leading names including Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez, extended their lead through Luis Diaz’s 10th of the season and Elliott marked his 100th appearance for the club with a late fourth.
“As I said before the start of the game, Luton are a tough team and we had to dig deep and show the desire,” Elliott reflected to Sky Sports.
“The final bit wasn’t really there in the first half. But football is a game of two halves and in the second half we showed it. We had to be a lot better than we were in the first half.
“To be fair we’re not really thinking about the [Carabao Cup] final. It was about getting the job done tonight. It’s a big game at the weekend but tonight was a final. Each and every game is a final. It’s a busy period and we need to recover for the weekend.
“We are a resilient team and we want to fight for one another. It’s a hectic season. For the lads that are injured we wish them well and we want to come back quickly.”
Jurgen Klopp’s side now head into Sunday’s EFL Cup final with Chelsea at Wembley in good form, having extended their lead at the top of the Premier League.
