Liverpool must approach every Premier League game like a final as they aim to prolong their unbeaten run, according to Dejan Lovren.

The defender returned to the Reds starting XI against Manchester United last Sunday, when a 3-1 win made it 17 league games without defeat for Jürgen Klopp’s men this term.

Next up for the leaders is a trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers and before that clash at Molineux, Lovren detailed the approach he feels is needed to keep such outstanding form going.

“There are so many games in front of us and in front of them [Manchester City],” he said. “It will be a tight race and it’s not only City. Tottenham are only a couple of points behind.

“You cannot sit and enjoy and say: ‘We have five or six points in front of everyone.’ It doesn’t work like that. Every game for us is a final.”

On the nip-and-tuck nature of the race at the top, Lovren added: “There’s a competition. This is what we want, but we don’t look at who is in front of us or behind us.

“It’s just about us. It’s more about how we train, how we do on the pitch and the result will come. There are quite a lot of games still to go but we go game by game.

“City won on Saturday so on Sunday we had pressure. It can be from both ways a positive thing. We will not look back, we will just look forward.”

Lovren and Nathaniel Clyne came into the Liverpool defence at Anfield last weekend as Klopp leaned on the strength of his squad following a series of injuries.

And the No.6 believes the quality waiting in the wings - not least Clyne himself - will be a crucial factor for the Reds’ aspirations this season.

“There are quite a lot of players who have been for a couple of seasons now with Jürgen,” said Lovren.

“We know and he knows what we need to do, so there’s not too much to say, especially for Clyney. When you look back, he didn’t play for I don’t know how many months and he did a fantastic game.

“This is important, and of course it’s important to keep this momentum and to enjoy this moment. Hopefully there won’t be many injuries because we need everyone. Even the 25th player is important.”