Jamie Carragher today revealed how he congratulated a former
teammate for the part he played in helping to boost Liverpool's
title hopes.
Ex-Reds star Danny Murphy found the back of the net as Fulham
secured a stunning 2-0 victory over Manchester United in the last
round of league fixtures before the international break.
It's a scoreline that allowed Rafa Benitez's side to go within a
point of table toppers United, courtesy of the 5-0 victory over
Aston Villa at Anfield the following day, and Carragher was
thankful for the assistance of his one-time club-mate.
"I sent Danny a text before the game to wish him luck and another
one afterwards to say thank you," the Reds' vice-captain revealed
to Liverpoolfc.tv.
"He did us a favour, but it's up to us to capitalise now."
Having won nine games at home this season, United aren't the only
scalp Fulham have taken at Craven Cottage, with Arsenal and Chelsea
also failing to record victories there.
Carragher is well aware of the danger posed by Roy Hodgson's men
and, in particular, the menace of former Kop idol Murphy.
"Danny has probably been Fulham's best player this season along
with Brede Hangeland at the back," said Carragher.
"I think with Danny being captain and playing more of a holding
role now, he's organising the people around him.
"He's got great experience, so we know it will be difficult, but
it's up to us to try and pin him down and stop him playing because
I think he makes Fulham tick.
"Chelsea only drew at Craven Cottage, they defeated Arsenal there
earlier on in the season and we couldn't beat them at Anfield so
we're talking about a very tough game for us, but we've got to make
sure we're not another big team to drop points there."
United's defeat at Fulham came on the back of Liverpool's 4-1
demolition job at Old Trafford, but Alex Ferguson's charges still
have a game in hand over the chasing pack.
However, with United not in action until Sunday against Villa, a
win in South London for the Reds will see them go top of the league
on Saturday evening.
"We've got an opportunity to go top of the league with United
playing Sunday and it's one we've got to take," added the
defender.
"We've got to try and pick up three points in every game and try to
catch United. A draw is probably not a great result, even though we
can go top with a point because of the goal difference.
"When the game is finished on Saturday, we want to be top of the
league."
The 31-year-old believes it's vital the Reds try to take maximum
points from their remaining fixtures and attempt render United's
extra game meaningless.
He said: "You wouldn't have expected United to lose two games on
the bounce. That's the way the title race is in England,
though.
"Every game is very difficult and it just goes to show how well
we've done this season when United loose two games in a week, but
we've only lost two league games all season.
"United still have game in hand, but between now and then our aim
is to try and win every game so their extra game doesn't
count."