EXCLUSIVE
By Charles Ong

Liverpool legend Ian Rush has expressed his belief that his former club can finish in the Premier League top six this term.

The Reds endured a poor start to the campaign but have shown encouraging signs of late and now sit just four points short of sixth-placed Merseyside rivals Everton.

And Rush, who remains the club’s all-time top goalscorer with 346 goals in 660 games, says he has seen enough to believe a respectable position is achievable.

“I’d like to think we can finish in the top six,” he told Goal.com.

“I think that is what they have got to do, and I think looking at the top six and the present form they are in, I still feel they can do it.

“They are not playing badly; they are playing well and have just been very, very unlucky and can’t finish teams off.”

The Welshman went on to bemoan Liverpool’s lack of cutting edge, a factor which has seen them draw seven games this season.

He added: “Nowadays, they are playing good football but not scoring goals and killing teams off.

“That’s what they’ve got to do because if you don’t do that, the opposition will go down and score.”

Rush also spoke of the critical importance of beating lesser sides and winning home games in order to achieve his top-six target

Citing Aston Villa, Wigan and Southampton as examples of such teams, he said: “It’s different away from home but at Anfield, we’ve got to win those games.”