As he reflected on an uplifting start to the Barclays Premier League campaign for his Liverpool team, Rafael Benítez was eager to make clear that the real hard work lies ahead. That perception will only be enhanced by the grim confirmation yesterday that Martin Skrtel could be absent for six months with cruciate knee ligament damage, but not even that news could wipe the smile off Liverpudlian faces as they wondered whether maybe, just maybe, this could be their year.

It feels too early in the season to be pinpointing results that define a campaign, but Liverpool have had enough of them in recent weeks to suggest that they have summoned the spirit and resolve that is required of champions. Whether they have the necessary quality in all departments is to be determined, but, as they left the City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday evening after recovering from a 2-0 deficit to beat Manchester City 3-2, Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and the rest looked as if they felt that they had just proved something to each other as well as to Chelsea, Manchester United et al.

The misfortune for Liverpool is that the injury to Skrtel, one of their most impressive performers, threatens to take some of the wind out of their sails, with doubts over whether the Slovakia defender will play again this season after he damaged the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee shortly before Dirk Kuyt's stoppage-time winning goal against City. He will have a further assessment today.

In Skrtel's absence, Benítez must decide whether to opt for Daniel Agger, who has not played in the Premier League since suffering a fractured foot 13 months ago, or Sami Hyypia, who was deemed surplus to requirements when the manager submitted his squad for the Champions League at the end of August.

Hyypia, who turns 35 today, will have a part to play - not least because of his ineligibility for the Champions League, which came about as Benítez grasped for a way around Uefa's quota system on homegrown players - but, if Liverpool are to sustain their title challenge, it is essential that Agger returns to the form he had begun to show before injury brought his last season to a premature end. The Denmark defender has been troubled by concerns over the injury since returning to fitness over the summer, but Benítez will need him at his best for the tests ahead, most notably the encounter with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on October 26.

Either way, the majority of Liverpool's players departed for international duty in high spirits. “It was great for us to take all three points after what happened with Martin,” Kuyt, the Holland forward, said.

“Sunday was a really important win for us. I think the first half was our worst 45 minutes of the season, but we were a completely different side in the second half. It was great to win a game like that because it gives us even more belief, but we know it is still very early in what will be a long season. The most important thing now is to keep taking it one game at a time.”

Indeed, Benítez was eager to reinforce the “one game at a time” message, pointing out that there are matches at home to Wigan Athletic and away to Atlético Madrid, the latter in the Champions League, before the trip to Stamford Bridge.

Wigan were one of seven visiting teams to escape defeat at Anfield last season, but with victories at home to United and away to City, Liverpool have illustrated their determination to succeed where they failed last season - one game at a time.