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Adam Lallana believes Liverpool have started to find “their own identity” this season, as he tipped the race for the top four to go right to the wire.

The Reds moved to within four points of the Champions League qualification spots with victory over West Ham on Saturday, and are one of the Premier League’s form sides.

Brendan Rodgers’ side have lost just once in 13 games in all competitions, and have significantly improved their performance levels along the way. Lallana says they are now starting to show the confidence which was associated with last season’s side.

He said: “We’ve found a system that suits us well, and confidence is a huge factor. We knew it was going to take a bit of time, but we feel we’ve got that now. We just want to keep looking to improve and keep winning games.

“We feel like we’ve got our own identity now, a lot of the new lads have settled in. When things are going well, you seem to have that extra spring in your step and extra bit of confidence. It shows on the pitch. But we have worked hard to get here.

“We had a tough start to the season, for one reason or another. We don’t like to make excuses but we were finding it tough. But I’ve always said that going through a tough spell like that would make us better.

“I see that at the minute on the pitch and there is still room for improvement as well. You look at the squad now and the manager has got options everywhere.”

Next up for the Reds is tomorrow night’s FA Cup fourth round replay at Bolton Wanderers, before vital league games against Everton on Saturday, and then Tottenham next Tuesday.

Those games could have a big bearing on Liverpool’s top-four ambitions, but Lallana believes they can take confidence from their recent resurgence.

“We have set the standards and shown how we can play, and shown that we can keep clean sheets,” he said. “During the beginning of the season we were struggling.

“But we have put the hard work in on the training ground and it’s going well and paying off. But not for one minute will me or any of the lads be happy with that - we want to keep improving and keep doing better.

“You can see it’s going to go down to the wire. We did start off slowly, but our league form is brilliant. With (Daniel) Sturridge coming back we have got more options.

“We just need to focus on a game at a time and the next game is Bolton away. They caused us a few problems at home and made it difficult for us, so we know we’re going to have to go there and be patient. But we’re fully confident that we can get the win.”