 DANIEL AGGER has warned that the hard work starts now for Liverpool – but insists the players are in prime condition to carry it out. The Danish centre-back played his part in the club’s progress to the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday, when their 1-0 win over PSV Eindhoven at Anfield completed a 4-0 aggregate victory. Liverpool next face a two-legged semi-final with Chelsea, who they beat 2-0 in January in their last meeting and knocked out at the same stage on the road to European Cup glory in Istanbul two years ago. And while Agger won’t be letting past history sidetrack him into thinking about the final in Athens yet, he has underlined his determination to get there. “It’s a good feeling to go into the Champions League with a lot of great teams and still be in at the semi-final stage,” said Agger. “But that means all the teams left in are still great. “It’s a big thing to be here but we want to go all the way so the hard work starts now. “We have to play well in the semi-finals but we also have to work very hard to get to the final. “It’s a cup tournament so the games we’ve had before don’t matter now – it’s a tough game for both teams. Agger is also insistent that the adrenalin rush of their European run is keeping the players in top condition ahead of the frantic final month of the season. And although in the Premiership – which Liverpool return to at Manchester City tomorrow – they haven’t been able to sustain a challenge beyond battling to retain the third place they achieved last year, the 22-year-old doesn’t feel they have held back in favour of European progress. “If you play for Liverpool you have to be professional and you have to go out to win every game,” said Agger. “No matter whether it’s in the FA Cup or the Carling Cup, it doesn’t matter. So I don’t think we can use the Champions League as an excuse for the league because we’ve been ready for every league game. “But we’ve made some mistakes and we have to do things better next time. It’s close to the end of the season and every game is really important now and it is getting tough, but at the same time it’s easy to get motivated because of that. It’s no problem.” Meanwhile, the medial ligament injury Craig Bellamy picked up against PSV is not thought to be too serious but he is set to undergo intensive treatment to speed up his recovery. | 
HAVE your say on our Reds Messageboard - click 
RSS News Feed