Soccer:Kenny Dalglish insists he would be proud of the way his Liverpool players have responded since he took charge even if they fail to qualify for Europe. The Reds stayed on course for a top-five finish in the Premier League by beating Fulham 5-2, even sparking suggestions they could yet challenge for fourth spot.

But despite scoring 13 goals in their last three games, there does not appear to be enough time left for Liverpool to secure a Champions League place and Dalglish refused to speculate on where they might finish the season.

"I don't know. We'll just wait and see," he said. "I know it's boring and repetitive and we keep saying it, but it's not served us too badly over the years. The next one's the most important one, we'll play every game to win it and, at the end of it, we'll add up the points and see where we finish.

"Who would've predicted coming here and winning 5-2? I certainly wouldn't."

Dalglish, who took charge with Liverpool languishing in the bottom half of the table, added: "Nobody would ever have anticipated the run that the boys have been on since January, would they? It's been unbelievable. Even if we don't get fifth, they've been absolutely fantastic. For us, the position hasn't been as important as the response of the players."

For Liverpool to stand any chance of a Champions League spot, they would need Manchester City to suffer a late collapse, starting on Tuesday against Tottenham.

Dalglish added: "You can only get benefit from other results if you do the business yourself. And as long as we continue to do our business then we can dictate what happens to us. If we get a bonus from someone else, so be it. But we can't do anything about it.

"It's bad enough trying to get ourselves in order."

Dalglish, who revealed Andy Carroll missed the game with "a bruise" but should be back for Spurs on Sunday, hailed Liverpool's performance as "fantastic".

The Scot singled out the outstanding Luis Suarez for special praise, as well as paying tribute to Jamie Carragher for moving up to second in the club's all-time appearance list on 666 games. He also congratulated Manchester United on all but securing their 19th league title, which would see them overhaul Liverpool's record of 18.

Refusing to be drawn on whether the Reds could mount a title challenge of their own next season, Dalglish said: "Anybody that wins the title is normally the best team in the league and I don't think Manchester United are any different from that.

"Although they might be your rivals and your competitors, it doesn't mean to say that you're disrespectful. They set the standards that we've got to get to and we'll do our best to get there."

club captain Steven Gerrard insists Liverpool are determined to reclaim their league titles record from Manchester United.

Sunday's 2-1 success over nearest rivals Chelsea means United are almost certain to win the Premier League crown yet again, the 12th time since the league's inception in 1992. And they will overtake Liverpool as the country's most successful club in the league, with their 19th title.

Gerrard admits that hurts the Merseysiders, but Liverpool's impressive form since Dalglish's return leads him to believe they are now once again on the up.

"It hurts because we held the record for so long," said Gerrard. "Give credit where it's due, they've overtaken us for the time being. But we are on our way back up and we won't give up the fight to overtake them again - don't worry about that. That is the motivation.

"We can still boast about the European Cups, of course, but everyone here will be doing everything we can to get the league record back."