Andy Carroll has claimed his reputation as a hard-drinking socialiser bears no relation to the reality of his monastic lifestyle in Liverpool but accepts he may never shed the public image that developed at Newcastle United.

The 23-year-old has attracted fierce criticism throughout his 15 months on Merseyside yet, in the week Damien Comolli lost his job as director of football at Liverpool partly as a consequence of agreeing excessive transfer fees, he produced his finest contributions for Kenny Dalglish's team so far: a stoppage-time winner for a side reduced to 10 men at Blackburn Rovers and the decisive goal in the FA Cup semi-final against Everton at Wembley.

Carroll credits his restored confidence with a return to Dalglish's starting lineup and believes he is also reaping the benefits of behaving more responsibly off the pitch following his £35m transfer to Anfield. Unlike his time at Newcastle, the striker has avoided any serious drink-related controversy during his Liverpool career but, with even the former England manager Fabio Capello publicly condemning his alcohol consumption, Carroll admits that reputation precedes him.

"My past is my past," said the striker. "I feel when I came to Liverpool I changed my lifestyle and everything about it and settled down. I have my girlfriend with me at home and I love it here. I am settled down now. I'll go down the street and people will say to me, 'Oh, you were in the boozer last week' but it is just rumours going round. I just laugh it off really, it is always going to happen but I just get on with it really. To be honest, I don't go out at all. I know what people say is not true, my family knows it's not true and the club knows it's not true so that is all that matters."

Carroll, who earlier this season revealed his favourite television programme was Desperate Housewives and that he owned all the DVD box sets, added: "All I do now is sit in the house with my girlfriend, chill out and watch movies. I'm on the Xbox or I'll watch TV with my girlfriend."

The Liverpool striker hopes last week, when his seventh and eighth goals of the season eased the scrutiny on Dalglish, can mark a defining moment in his Anfield career. Liverpool have lost only one of the past 10 matches that Carroll has started but have not won the past eight without the centre-forward in the starting lineup – losing five and drawing three. He admits finding it more difficult to handle a substitute's role than the pressure of being the most expensive British footballer in history.

"I am confident in myself that if I am playing games I will score goals and put myself about. I cannot really do that if I am on the bench and coming on in the last 10 minutes of games," said Carroll. "It has just been difficult in terms of not playing really. I feel I have given it my best shot and what I want is to start games and put myself about like I know I can.

"To score the winner in the semi-final and get us to the final it is obviously a great feeling. Scoring against Blackburn and scoring against Everton is a great lift for me. When you play regularly you get confident and you get into the stride of things and I feel I am doing that now."

Carroll's long-term future at Liverpool was again called into question only a fortnight ago following his furious reaction to being withdrawn against his former club at St James' Park. The striker has been strongly linked with a return to Tyneside but insists his ambition is to remain part of the Liverpool team.

"I want to play for Liverpool," he stated. "I didn't come here to sit on the bench, I came here to play games and I am fully fit and I am prepared to stick at it no matter what I get off the pitch or on the pitch. I will stick at it and work my hardest. I have signed a long contract, obviously I have signed here to stay. There is a lot more for me to give and a lot more to win here. I love it here and I want to stay.

"I am a fighter. I am determined to do well here and that's why I came here. We have reached two finals. We have won one [cup] and hopefully we can win another one. No matter what people say about me I know what I am about and know what I can do. I just need to play games and I'm confident I'll score goals."

Meanwhile Liverpool's owners, John Henry and Tom Werner, are expected to return to Merseyside this week as they continue their structural overhaul of the club.

• This article has been corrected. The original said Liverpool have not lost any of the past 10 matches that Carroll has started.