The £50million January departure of striker Fernando Torres to Chelsea was initially seen as a long-term blow but his sale allowed the Reds to buy Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez.

Already the pair have shown plenty of desire and commitment - something which Torres lacked in his final few months at Anfield - and have lessened the impact of the Spain international leaving.

Director of football Damien Comolli has said he expects to have a busy summer in terms of recruitment but that is not necessarily at the expense of the current squad and the Frenchman successfully negotiated a new contract with midfielder Lucas this week.

Dalglish said they will continue to look after those players who have something to offer as the club looks to rebuild in the coming months.

"It is important if they are good players," said the Scot, whose appointment as permanent boss edged closer with the Brazil international's signature on a long-term deal - another pointer towards what now appears inevitable.

"The longer the deal is the happier we will be but the quality of the player is the important thing.

"For us we don't want to lose who we think are important people to the club."

Carroll and Suarez certainly fall into that category, having signed five-year contracts in January, and are expected to provide the firepower in the Reds' bid to catch fifth-placed Tottenham.

The pair have both shown, individually, their respective talents in recent games but have yet to have a long spell together in which to hone their partnership.

Captain Steven Gerrard claims they are now the most feared strike pairing in the Barclays Premier League, although Dalglish tried to lessen the expectations around them.

"I don't think he is a bad judge if he thinks Andy and Luis are a very strong strikeforce," said the Scot of his captain's assessment.

"Andy has a bit to go to get himself up to match fitness but he came in here for five and a half years, not a few months.

"As (England coach) Fabio Capello said, he's not going to get fit as quickly as an Aaron Lennon, but we'll be patient and when he's ready he's ready.

"The 60 minutes he got for England was very helpful in his recuperation and his fight to try to get back to full fitness.

"We are delighted with the two players we have. Whether they are the best or not is subjective - everyone is entitled to their own opinion."

Liverpool's new managing director Ian Ayre said having European football is not imperative to their financial well-being.

"There's no hiding from the fact that if you don't participate in European football then it is a big hit to your revenues," he told Press Association Sport.

"At the same time a football club like Liverpool is an institution that has been around for many, many years and commercially is significantly ahead of most of its competitors, other than one (Manchester United).

"Our revenues and the way we govern our business is absolutely geared to be able to survive and continue to prosper without European football but that's not to say we don't want it."