Marco Reus has attempted to play down expectations after Borussia Dortmund pulled further clear of the Bundesliga relegation zone on the weekend.
A 3-0 victory over Schalke 04 in the Ruhr derby at Signal Iduna Park moved Jurgen Klopp's side five points above the bottom three, but Reus insists that the squad cannot lose focus as they look to close the gap on the teams in the top half of the table.
"A month ago we were talking about being in a relegation battle," the 25-year-old told the Bundesliga's official website.
"I think it's good we've pulled away from there for good now but we're just taking things one step at a time and we've now won four straight matches, which is very important.
"At the moment things are going well but we've got some really tough games coming up. If the teams above us in the table drop points, of course we'll try to catch them up, but there's a long way to go."
Dortmund meet Dynamo Dresden in the DFB-Pokal on Tuesday evening before returning to league action against Hamburger SV on Saturday.
Callum Mulvihill
