Liverpool are still smarting after Monday's 0-0 home draw with West Ham, which ended with them being booed off by the Anfield crowd despite taking over at the top of the Premier League.

That one point was enough to overtake Chelsea, but the frustrating draw with the Hammers followed previous lapses at home against Stoke and Fulham, who also achieved goalless draws.

Now Gerrard hopes he can lead Liverpool to a vital victory at Blackburn on Saturday to maintain their slender grip on top spot.

He says: "At the moment, dropping points like we have been doing at home has not cost us anything. But that is not always going to be the case."

But Gerrard is confident the current side can maintain a genuine title chase for the rest of the campaign.

He says: "This is a hungry Liverpool, a determined Liverpool. In football you are remembered for what you win, not necessarily how you played.

"We want to be remembered as winners, not also-rans.

"In my 10 years in the first team, this is the first time that we have been where we are at this stage of the season with this opportunity.

"We have got to get better, be more consistent and start killing teams off when we get the chance.

"But what we all hope is that as much success as we have had in the past, the UEFA Cup, Champions League and FA Cup successes, we have still got our best days to come.

"For me this is the best team we have had since I broke through. At the moment we are up there fighting but in this league, as soon as you take your eye off the ball, or take anything for granted, you are brought back down to earth with a bump."

For Gerrard, and his colleague Jamie Carragher, the trip to Blackburn gives them a chance of a reunion with former Anfield skipper Paul Ince, now manager at Ewood Park.

Carragher has fond memories of the midfielder, and admits he 'looked up' to Ince when he was beginning his Anfield first-team career.

But that does not stop Carragher aiming to heap more woe on Ince and Rovers as they sit in the relegation zone.

Carragher, who made his Liverpool debut a few months before Ince joined the club from Inter Milan in 1997, said: "Paul was one of the players in the team when I first started and he was a great help to me.

"He gave me a lot of advice and he was someone I looked up to when I started to become a footballer. Hopefully he does really well, after Saturday."

Ince is going through a tough baptism in Premier League management with the team sitting in the relegation zone and they were knocked out of the Carling Cup quarter-finals at Manchester United last night.

But Carragher and Liverpool cannot afford to be sentimental over their former captain's plight, or to slip up at a ground where they have lost just once in the last 12 years - Boxing Day, 2006.

They will be aiming for their 50th victory in league football over Rovers in their 121st meeting.

Liverpool will also have more than 7,000 fans at Ewood Park, their biggest away allocation of the season.

Carragher says: "We normally take a good crowd to Blackburn, which is virtually a local game for us and hopefully we can get a good result.

"They have had a few bad results lately and it is the type of place that we normally do okay. Hopefully that will continue."

Liverpool will also have reunions with old boys Stephen Warnock and Robbie Fowler.

Striker Fernando Torres is still out, and after visiting a specialist in Spain this week, he may not play again until after the Christmas programme with his hamstring injury, the initial tentative comeback date had been the visit to Arsenal on December 21.

That means Robbie Keane will continue up front, intent on improving a scoring record of just two goals in his last eight appearances.

Javier Mascherano and Daniel Agger, both rested against West Ham, are expected to return.