Juventus have made the Reds boss their number one target to take over in the summer having sacked Ciro Ferrara on Friday and installed Alberto Zaccheroni as the stop-gap until the end of the season.

Benitez stoked the fires slightly by admitting he was "proud" to be linked with such an institution but Kuyt said the concentration of everyone at the club was on their minimum target of securing Champions League football next year.

"To be honest we just focus on football and not other things outside the pitch," said the Holland international, who scored Liverpool's first in yesterday's 2-0 win at home to Bolton.

"As far as I know there is no doubt. I've not heard there is any trouble or indication the manager could leave so if that is not happening we just want to play football."

Kuyt accepted that while the 18-time English champions were still under-performing they would have to deal with a lot of negative headlines.

"When the results are no good everyone in the team gets stick," he added.

"Because you play for Liverpool you should always play for trophies and be challenging for the league.

"When things aren't going the way you want these kind of things come up in the press and people talk about other things than football."

The win over Bolton, thanks to Kuyt's 49th strike in a Liverpool shirt and a Kevin Davies own goal from a wickedly-deflected Emiliano Insua shot, helped turn some of the focus back on football.

With Tottenham drawing against Birmingham, Benitez's side are now only a point off fourth place with their form now improving.

The numbers are finally starting to add up for Liverpool. The win over Bolton was their sixth league match unbeaten, providing a fifth clean sheet in that time and their fourth successive home victory.

Their performance was far from convincing as the visitors could have twice been ahead before Kuyt converted a scrappy 37th-minute chance from close range after Alberto Aquilani had headed Insua's cross into his path.

Tamir Cohen had a half-chance early on when he got the wrong side of Jamie Carragher only to be denied by Jose Reina while Lee Chung-Yong had a shot cleared off the line by the ever-improving Sotirios Kyrgiakos.

When the fortuitous second goal came in the 70th minute it helped settle the nerves.

"It is getting better and better," said Kuyt.

"We knew at the start of the season we had lots of quality in the team but things didn't happen the way we wanted them to but that is behind us now.

"Confidence is really important and it is something we didn't have a couple of months ago.

"But you can see as soon as the goals are coming the confidence is coming back as well."

Kuyt has now scored three goals in as many games after his double-strike defeated Tottenham 11 days ago.

However, he associated his upturn in fortune with that of the team's.

"For me the main thing is the team. As soon as the team is playing well my own performance will get better as well," said the 29-year-old.

"If you ask all the players if they were satisfied with the performances they gave in the first half of the season I don't think anyone would have been happy.

"If you look at the [Premier League] table and you have been kicked out of the Champions League you can't be happy.

"You have to work really hard to come back. I am very happy to score a couple of goals and be important for the team but I'm sure everyone will start to play better.

"The main thing is we all stick together and work hard and that is paying off now."

It was a message which echoed that of his manager.

"I'm pleased with the mentality of the players," said Benitez.

"We have to keep going and play at the level of the second half. The main thing will be to get points in every game.

"Still it is a long race so we have to keep going because the competition is very hard. The key is to stick together."

The result may not have pleased Bolton manager Owen Coyle but he has seen signs of improvement since taking over earlier this month.

"I have been delighted by the way the players have gone about their work," he said, adding that he planned to make full use of loan signings Jack Wilshere (from Arsenal) and Vladimir Weiss (Manchester City) in their relegation fight.

"There is lot to look forward to. Wilshere and Weiss have a role to play, that is why we brought them to the football club.

"They are both young, exciting players that have still got stuff to learn."