Johnson maintains title dream

Glen Johnson insists Liverpool's title challenge remains intact despite their disappointing start to the season.

The Reds suffered their second defeat of the 2009/10 campaign on Monday night against Aston Villa, meaning they have now lost as many games this term as they did in the whole of last season.

Two setbacks in three outings is far from the ideal start Rafa Benitez's men were looking for, especially as they were tipped to be among the contenders to take the crown this year after falling agonisingly short in 2008/09.

Johnson insists Liverpool are still capable of conquering the Premier League, with 35 games still to come, but the England ace does accept that a lacklustre opening was not part of the Anfield plans.

"Obviously this is not the start to the season that we wanted, but it's only the third game and there is a long way to go," Johnson told the club's official website.

"It's still the early part of the season so we are not going to beat ourselves up at the moment.

"Of course, we'd like to have a few more points but it's not to be so we'll just keep going."

Next up for Liverpool is a trip to Bolton on Saturday and Johnson is hoping the Reds can kick-start their season at the Reebok Stadium.

"Bolton is a hard place to go next but hopefully we'll start there the way we started the second half against Villa, by going at them from the first minute to get three points," he added.