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James Milner believes Liverpool have hit form at the perfect time as they enter a potentially season-defining month,

Sunday’s victory over Swansea City made it six wins out of seven in all competitions and lifted the Reds into the top six of the Premier League.

The vice-captain says Jurgen Klopp’s squad, which has been bolstered by the return to fitness of Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge, is strong enough to maintain that surge.

Liverpool kick-off a hectic December programme with Wednesday night’s Capital One Cup quarter-final tie at Southampton before travelling to struggling Newcastle in the league on Sunday.

“This is always a crucial period,” Milner said.

“The league table always looks so much different at the beginning to mid January than what he does at the start of December.

“You see suspensions and injuries taking hold and teams losing and gaining form. It is a great time to be in good form going into this Christmas period and hopefully we can keep it going.

“It is a talented squad of players, we have a great mix of youth and experience and obviously a new manager. The stadium is being upgraded as well so I think it is a great time to be involved at the club.

“It is exciting times for everyone. If we keep working hard, keep improving, keep doing our job then hopefully we can be successful.

“We just want to keep getting the wins on the board and hopefully get into January and February and still be in all the cup competitions and give ourselves a shot in one of the cups, see where we are in the league and assess it from there.”

Grinding out the wins

Milner, whose second-half penalty proved enough to beat Swansea, believe Klopp’s side proved on Sunday that they can win in different ways. It was a far cry from the heights they did in the 4-1 rout of Manchester City but the Reds dug deep to secure maximum points.

“It was important to get the win,” he added.

“If you don’t get the win then it sort of throws that good performance (at City) away. With the conditions, I don’t think it was ever going to be the prettiest game of football, but these are the sort of games you have to win and it is very pleasing that we showed we can do that.

“You are not going to play well every week and you are going to come up against difficult conditions. Every game is different and you have to be able to win in different styles. It is not always going to be pretty football and how you want it to go to plan. To be able to grind out that win was really important.

“With the amount of games we have got coming up and getting into Christmas it is an important time to get some form. Hopefully we can keep this form going through Christmas and keep racking the wins up.”

Fit-again faces boost squad

Milner admits Liverpool’s hopes of achieving that will be boosted by the availability of Henderson and Sturridge, who both came off the bench against Swansea.

“It is massive. They are two top quality players and any team in the league would miss them. It is great they are back,” Milner added.

“To challenge and get where we want to be you are going to need a squad of players.

“You look at the quality of the whole bench, look at the players we have injured, you are going to need that with the amount of games we have coming up. To challenge and get where we want to be you are going to need a squad.”

Trophy trail

Liverpool will also have Philippe Coutinho back for Wednesday’s trip to the South Coast with the Brazilian having sat out the past two matches with a hamstring problem.

Milner won the competition with Manchester City and has his sights set on another Wembley triumph with his new club.

“It is a great chance of a trophy. The League Cup gets some bad press at times for whatever reason, but if you ask anyone they would take a League Cup this season,” he said.

“We are one game away from semi-finals and then a shot at Wembley. It comes around quickly but it is a great competition. I have been lucky enough to win it and hopefully I can win it again.

“It is the first competition you can win this season. No-one will be complaining if we are sat there in February or March with a trophy in the cabinet with plenty more games to go. Everyone would be delighted with that.”