JAMIE CARRAGHER admits he’s excited about the future at Anfield following the rapid progress made since Kenny Dalglish returned to the helm.

Liverpool have maintained the momentum they generated in the closing months of last season by taking seven points from their opening three league games.

And the long-serving defender believes after a lean few years the club is on the march again.

“Normally when a new manager comes in you’re building,” Carragher said.

“You take it one step at a time. Under Gerard Houllier and Rafa (Benitez), even though we won the Champions League with Rafa, in terms of competing it seemed to take a couple of years before you felt like you were not far behind the top teams.

“Now the way we’ve started, the way we finished last season and the players we’ve brought in, I’m not saying we’re going to win the league but you feel as if we can give people a run for their money. It’s only been six months.

“That’s what makes it exciting for me. The quicker the better for me because I’m getting on!

“It’s a great credit to the manager and staff, to the owners and Damien Comolli for changing things around and bringing in players.

“We’ve got rid of a few players now, I’m not sure how many, but there has been a lot of turnover of players and at the moment it looks like it is working.

“During some of the tough times it can feel like a million miles from where you want to be but at this moment we seem to be there and we want to stay there.”

Carragher believes with the backing of owners Fenway Sports Group the manager has compiled a squad capable of competing with anyone in the Premier League.

Craig Bellamy became Liverpool’s seventh new signing of the summer when he penned a two-year deal on transfer deadline day.

“The squad is very strong, especially with Bellamy,” he added.

“We lost David Ngog but are back to having four strikers which you always want. We’ve got four centre-backs as well, loads of right-backs, left-backs as well. We’ve still got Stevie to come back into the middle – we’ve got lots of players there.

“All over the pitch we look really strong. We’ve got to be pleased with how big the squad is and how strong the competition is.

“It is as exciting for the players because the last couple of years have been difficult.

“It’s only three or four games in but it’s gone well, and the end of last season went well.”

Carragher says Dalglish is key to the positivity around the club and the camaraderie in the squad.

“Everyone can see his reaction when we score,” he said.

“He’s like that on the training pitch every day and that’s infectious. You can see him around the place, he loves the game. It’s great to be around a person like that.”