A resolute rearguard action in the 213th Merseyside derby, for which they played more than 55 minutes with 10 men after Sotirios Krygiakos' dismissal, earned a 1-0 victory thanks to Dirk Kuyt's 50th goal for the club.

A seven-match unbeaten Barclays Premier League run has now brought 17 points and six clean sheets, lifting them into the top four for the first time since early October.

But they face a tough test on Wednesday when they travel to Arsenal, where they have not won in the league in three days short of a decade.

Manager Rafael Benitez will allow his players a couple of days to enjoy the derby victory, their fifth in the last six, before concentrating on the Gunners.

Bootle-born Carragher, who played in his 25th meeting between the near-neighbours yesterday, knows how important the victory was for morale.

"It is not just three points, it has a massive impact and everyone is buzzing," said the 32-year-old.

"But that can change if the result doesn't go our way at Arsenal.

"We beat Manchester United (in the league) and then played Arsenal in the Carling Cup and lost.

"It is important we keep that feelgood factor after the Arsenal game and that will be by making sure we get a good result.

"We are going into the game in a great frame of mind but Arsenal away is always difficult.

"We have been to the Emirates for a couple of years now and I don't think we've won there yet so it is something we are going to have to do sooner or later and hopefully Wednesday will be the time.

"For the last four or five years we have been good defensively under Rafa and we are just getting back to our normal selves.

"If you keep clean sheets you are going to win games."

That may be easier said than done against Arsenal as none of the last 11 matches between the two have finished goalless, producing an astonishing total of 46 goals.

Liverpool will need plenty of the resilience shown yesterday in a match which was low on quality football but high on incident.

In the first half alone there could have been three red cards.

Had referee Martin Atkinson seen Marouane Fellaini's stamp on Kyrgiakos' as the Greek defender went in two-footed the Belgian could have been sent off in the same 35th-minute incident which accounted for the Liverpool centre-back.

Prior to that Steven Pienaar was lucky to escape with just a caution for a tackle that started at Javier Mascherano's right knee and ended about mid-shin.

Gerrard, who brushed off the challenges as being typical for a derby, curled a free-kick onto the top of the crossbar late in the first half before Tim Cahill, crucially, planted a free header from six yards over the crossbar in added time.

Everton were made to pay 10 minutes after the interval as Kuyt nodded home Gerrard's inswinging corner from three yards for his fourth goal in as many games.

Substitute Aiyegbeni Yakubu's 20-yard shot on the turn brought a good save from Jose Reina but the visitors rarely threatened before, in the fifth minute of injury time, Pienaar was shown a second yellow card for jumping into Gerrard.

Benitez credited his players' work-rate over the last month for getting the side back into the top four but insisted there was plenty still to do to secure Champions League football next season.

"We know it is a long race so we have to go keep going, keep working hard and keep winning games," he said.

"It is important for us to have the belief we can do it. It will be tough but we showed character again and can play with more confidence.

"We can enjoy the game for the next couple of days but still you have to keep winning games and playing away will be tough and we have to do our job."

Manager David Moyes has still to win at Anfield, with Everton's barren stretch dating back to 1999.

He felt a lack of quality in attack contributed to the end of a nine-match unbeaten league run.

"When we were 11 v 11 we were probably better but when they went down to 10 we kept the ball well and tried to do the right things," he said.

"We could have done with a little bit more width at times but when we got to the final third we didn't have the real top-end [quality] that was required.

"That is why you need special players and the top sides have that.

"I thought we came and showed there is not that big a gap between Liverpool and Everton in terms of what is being shown on the field.

"The players played well and I'm not disappointed with the performance."