Roy Hodgson insists Liverpool's setback at Stoke City at the weekend has not altered the club's ambition for the season.

Reds boss hopes hard work pays off

Roy Hodgson insists Liverpool's setback at Stoke has not altered the club's ambition for the season. A 2-0 reversal at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday was the Reds' fifth loss of the campaign so far. It allowed the Potters to edge above them in the Premier League table, forcing Hodgson's men into the bottom half. The defeat was Liverpool's first in six outings, though, and they remain just six points off Manchester City in fourth. With that in mind, Hodgson believes there is no cause for concern within the camp and is confident his side can get back on track against West Ham on Saturday. "I don't see why it should give us enormous reason to doubt what we are doing or doubt what we are capable of doing," he told the club's. "I don't expect this result to dent confidence any more than any bad result does or any end to a good run dents your confidence. "We are talking about two or three games in a season. I find it hard to have to explain that every time you win a game things are flying forward and when you get a bad result they are flying backwards. "I'm a 38-to-55-game-a-season man and I make my judgment over that period. "I don't get euphoric when we play well against Chelsea and I certainly won't become anything other than realistic and determined to move on to the next step when we lose a game. "The conclusions that are being attempted to be drawn are too big conclusions. "We're realistic. We know we've still got some work to do, get some players back to fitness and work at our game. "All you can do is work but unfortunately we won't have a lot of chance to work as some players are going away with their national team. "The longer we work together the more the players become attuned to what we want from them. "I don't think I need to fear one setback in six is going to throw us back into a bad situation."