Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina believes his club are capable of challenging for the Premier League title next season after their dreadful start to the current campaign (Liverpool 200/1 – 2010/11 winners).

The Reds were expected to compete under new manager Roy Hodgson after a disappointing seventh-placed finish will under Rafael Benitez.

However, life for Hodgson at Anfield got off to a woeful start and the Merseyside outfit even found themselves inside the bottom three for a couple of weeks.

Home defeats to Blackpool in the Premier League and Northampton in the Carling Cup showed how much work Hodgson had to do to get Liverpool back on track.

Life at Anfield has improved in recent weeks, with the Reds beginning to make their famous stadium a fortress again.

While life on the road hasn’t been as good, hope springs eternal that the second half of the season will see the Reds mount a challenge for a top-four finish.

With Hodgson expected to bring in some new recruits during the January transfer window Reina believes it won’t be long before Liverpool (7/1 Europa League outright) are challenging for the Premier League title again.

“I have a contract for another five and a half years,” he told the Daily Mail. “I am committed here and I want us to win titles.

“I hope within a year, or a couple of years, we can be up there again. We want to be back competing with the top clubs again. That is how it should be.

“This is my sixth season here and I think I know something about the club now and how the supporters think.”