Liverpool manager Arne Slot was keen to single out the "people questioning us" after his all-conquering side moved 13 points clear at the Premier League summit.
The Reds eased to a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United on Wednesday night, less than an hour after the two teams immediately below them in the table - Arsenal and Nottingham Forest - played out a goalless stalemate at the City Ground.
The midweek win represented Liverpool's fifth top-flight game in 15 days - a congested run which has seen the Reds score two goals in every match and collect 11 points from a possible 15.
"Many things I've liked," Slot told TNT Sports when mulling over this sequence of results. "Because after Everton, after [Aston] Villa and the Wolves game wasn't easy as well, people started to doubt some things about our game."
Liverpool were controversially held to a 2-2 draw by Everton at the start of this run. Slot's side managed to defeat Wolves four days later despite failing to register a single second-half shot before Villa also earned a point against the Reds. Any lingering doubts about Liverpool's pedigree were calmly swept aside by a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Manchester City last Sunday.
"We reacted so well against City," Slot gushed, "and all of a sudden everybody was very positive again. Sometimes what you then see is players [think], 'All of a sudden we are really good', and they don't do the same effort they did before.
"So for all the mental challenges we had, some people questioning us, then everybody really positive, the players just kept calm, and did the things they have to do.
"That is making it as hard as possible for the other team to play against us, and eventually, normally our quality then makes the difference."
Slot dismissed questions about how close Liverpool were to winning the league title after the Newcastle win. "I don't know because I don't think that way," he shrugged, shifting his focus towards next week's Champions League round of 16 tie. "I am thinking about PSG already and I watched them against Manchester City, I am impressed by the quality they have, they are on a similar run as we are.
"I will forget about the Premier League until we play Southampton."
Slot may not need to pay much attention to England's top flight throughout the remainder of the current campaign given their swollen advantage. Focus will instead shift to their Champions League campaign and the upcoming EFL Cup final against Newcastle on Sunday, 16 March.
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