Liverpool leapfrogged a pair of Barclays Premier League title contenders into second place on Saturday, but you will not find goalkeeper Simon Mignolet examining the league table yet.

A 4-1 victory over West Ham United at Anfield yesterday propelled the Reds to 30 points from their opening 15 fixtures, while elsewhere Chelsea and Manchester City both failed to secure wins.

With trips to both of those teams, and Tottenham Hotspur in the shorter term, still ahead during a packed December, though, the Belgian stopper is only retaining a game-by-game focus.

He told Liverpoolfc.com: "Against teams like today, it's very important to win. If we can win the points, afterwards we can look at the opposition - we have reached second again in the table.

"You see big teams dropping points against mid-table teams. We have to make sure we look at ourselves and get the three points every week, especially at home.

"Then we can stay where we are at the top of the table. If we do the things we need to, we can look at what the rest are doing.

"It's far too early to look at the opposition in the league. There are still a lot of games to be played. We just have to do the things we need to do."

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Midway through the first half against the Hammers, with the scoreline still goalless, the No.22 produced an outstanding reflex save to keep out a goalbound header from Modibo Maiga.

The stop provided the platform for his team to subsequently take the lead and build on it, although the perfectionist later experienced an element of frustration when his clean sheet was spoiled.

"If you're a goalkeeper, you're there to make those saves," the 25-year-old said. "If the team asks you to do something, you always hope you can help them out. I'm there to do that.

"It was important because at that stage it was still 0-0 and we ended up winning the game. So I'm pleased with that, but winning games is far more important than any individual performance.

"It's always nice to keep clean sheets - you always want to do that. Before the game, we are always hoping to do that. But you have to take things as they come; it's far more important to win games and we are doing that at the moment.

"If we can keep that going and score more next week, it will be a good thing. Any goal you concede is frustrating, it doesn't really matter if it's an own goal or not. We'll try to put things right next week. It's far more important to get points on the board, especially at home.

"At one moment in the game, when we were 2-0 up, we conceded for 2-1 and it's always a bit nervy. But I think we stood strong and got through those awkward moments to make sure, in the end, we could play out the 90 minutes easily.

"It took a bit of time before we got the first goal but after that, we played really well and created a lot of chances. If you create a lot of chances, there is always a chance of scoring four again."

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Mignolet is likely to be on a plane to Brazil with his country next summer, when rising Belgium will take on Algeria, Russia and South Korea in Group H at the 2014 World Cup.

Asked for his verdict on the draw, the 'keeper added: "We think it's important to look at the circumstances of where you're going to play. We don't have to do much travelling; the climate that we're going to play in for the first stage of the tournament is good as well.

"We've got a good group, but in a World Cup any team you play will be up for it and will be of tough quality. We'll just make sure we get ourselves prepared for the first games and make sure we get through the first stages.

"Beforehand, you are waiting on the draw. Now we know who we're going to be up against, so we can prepare ourselves and make sure we're ready for the first game of the World Cup."