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• Defender has held constructive talks with club’s hierarchy
• 32-year-old does not expect to earn England recall

Jamie Carragher has confirmed he is close to finalising a new contract at Liverpool following constructive talks with the club’s hierarchy.

The 32-year-old, who admits England’s current defensive shortage will not lead to another international recall, has entered the final year of his existing deal after negotiations were placed on hold during the summer. Roy Hodgson, the Liverpool manager, said a new contract for Carragher would be a priority once the transfer window had closed and, despite the ongoing uncertainty over the ownership of the club, the vice-captain is expected to sign a two-year extension this month.

“I have spoken to the managing director, Christian Purslow, and we’ve had a good chat about the new contract. I’m sure it will happen,” said Carragher yesterday. “The most important thing was for the club to get the ins and outs sorted before the transfer deadline. That’s done now so I’m sure we will have something sorted out in the next week or two.”

Carragher accepted a surprise invitation from Fabio Capello to relaunch his international career this summer but, despite a lack of experienced central defenders for England’s European Championship qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland, he is adamant the World Cup recall will not be repeated.

Asked whether Capello had been in contact again, the Liverpool defender said: “No. England will be all right. I think [Phil] Jagielka is a great player, [Michael] Dawson has done great for Tottenham and [Matthew] Upson is back in the squad now. England knew the situation at the start. It was a one-off thing for me going back. They were in a bit of trouble and so they asked me. I liked the idea of working with Capello and to have another chance of playing in a World Cup. I honestly thought England had a chance of winning it – can you believe that!”

Carragher’s 14-year career in the Liverpool first team will be marked with a testimonial against an Everton XI at Anfield tomorrow, with all the proceeds going to his charitable ‘23 Foundation’. He insists that, despite Liverpool’s financial problems and another modest outlay in the latest transfer window, the team can make an impact in Hodgson’s debut season as manager.

“I want to push on, I want to get in the top four and I want to win a trophy,” he said. “Liverpool supporters haven’t been to Wembley for a very long time because of the Cardiff situation a few years ago and I want to play at Wembley for Liverpool. I’ve never done that and that is one of my aims for this season. We don’t want to be treading water, I certainly hope not.”

Jamie CarragherLiverpoolAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

• Liverpool defender says Gary Lineker sleight lifted his game
• Anfield veteran confident Roy Hodgson’s squad can recover

If it requires only modest improvement for Liverpool to regain their Champions League status, as Jamie Carragher contests, then the despair of José Reina’s fumble against Arsenal will not reside long at Anfield.

The recovery Roy Hodgson was employed to oversee began in several individual performances on Sunday. Carragher attributes his own to a pre-match sleight from Gary Lineker.

Before kicking a ball in this Premier League season the defender was informed his 32-year-old legs had gone by the Match of the Day presenter. Carragher heard the refrain frequently at the start of last season and expects more of the same this term. On day one, and from the former Everton striker he used to follow from the Gwladys Street, however, such a post-mortem was sure to prompt an indignant response.

“I read Gary Lineker before the game saying my legs had gone so I wasn’t in the best of moods before kick-off and I was more determined to play better than I normally am,” Carragher said.

“You have good days, bad days, but we did OK against Arsenal. Later on I’ll probably make a couple of mistakes and people will say I’m finished again. You look at Pepe [Reina], who was very disappointed after the game, but he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world.”

Carragher was not the only Liverpool defender, or senior player, whose form fluctuated last season, contributing to the club’s sorry seventh place and hastening Rafael Benítez’s departure from the political in-fighting of Anfield.

Martin Skrtel and Glen Johnson were similarly troubled, and also responded impressively against Arsenal, while Javier Mascherano put aside his desire to leave to produce a committed display, and Steven Gerrard appeared re-energised in mind and body.

“I made too many mistakes at the start but I think I got my game together from the Man United game at home last season, from November onwards, so I like to think I had a good second half of the season,” the defender said. “But the whole season was unsatisfactory, doom and gloom, and so everything anyone did was criticised.

“I understand that we’re paid a lot of money and we’re in the limelight. When things don’t go well, there’s deserved criticism. Liverpool shouldn’t be finishing seventh and getting knocked out of every cup early so we deserved that last season.”

It is only one game, and uncertainty still surrounds a club in the process of separating the wheat from the chaff among potential new owners, but the Anfield veteran is confident Hodgson’s squad can recover this season. “We’re Liverpool. I

• Liverpool lie sixth after defeat to Manchester United
• Chelsea are only remaining opponents in top eight

Jamie Carragher, meanwhile, remains convinced that Liverpool stand a realistic chance of finishing fourth and reaching next season’s Champions League qualifiers despite suffering a 10th Premier League defeat of the season at Old Trafford on Sunday. Benítez’s side sit sixth after the 2-1 defeat by Manchester United.

“Of course we believe we can still close the gap,” said Carragher, whose team are now four points behind Tottenham Hotspur, two behind Manchester City and one ahead of Aston Villa. “Things are a bit more difficult now but we still have lots of points to play for.”

Even so, the Liverpool defender knows that with all three rivals for fourth holding games in hand, he and his team-mates cannot afford to dwell on defeat against the club from along the M62. “We have just got to recover from this as soon as possible and get on a run of victories,” he said. “We have to move on, but Sunday was the most difficult fixture we had left before the season ends.”

Carlo Ancelotti and his title‑chasing Chelsea players may beg to differ. They visit Anfield on the season’s penultimate weekend in what may prove to be a make-or-break fixture for both clubs – and perhaps their respective managers.

Chelsea apart, though, Carragher’s optimism does have some foundation. Liverpool have no other fixtures against teams positioned higher than ninth, with home games against Sunderland, Fulham and West Ham United interspersed with trips to Birmingham City, Burnley and Hull City. No one, though, is quite sure what impact a two-leg Europa League quarter-final against Benfica will have on Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and company. Moreover, several of the teams they do face will be fighting for their Premier League lives.

Carragher was at least encouraged by Liverpool’s performance against United. “We were playing against a top side and we ran them close. It was really disappointing to lose as there wasn’t much between the sides in the game. We have to accept we lost, but you didn’t see too many chances.”

The tightness of the encounter, though, did not prevent Benítez coming in for some renewed flak from critics and Carragher accepts it is, once again, tin-helmet time at Anfield. “Maybe there will be more criticism of us now. But at a club like Liverpool, the pressure is never off.”

He trusts some of the heat will shortly be transferred to Manchester City, Spurs and, possibly, Villa, the current dark horses. “They will have difficult spells,” the defender said. “And we’ve just got to make sure we take maximum points when City and Spurs do.”

Although Liverpool can derive considerable encouragement from a daunting Tottenham itinerary featuring games against Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea, City look very much in pole position. Unlike Spurs and Villa they are not distracted by FA