Liverpool's new owner Henry gets a taste of the level of success the club have enjoyed in the past

Alan Hansen BBC Sport football expert

Liverpool's new owner John W Henry has been in town this week making his first moves of serious significance - and he will have discovered an improved mood around Anfield.

When Henry and his New England Sports Ventures (NESV) colleagues concluded a hectic week ending in their takeover by attending the Merseyside derby against Everton they saw a disappointing Liverpool display and a comfortable win for their arch-rivals at Goodison Park.

It extended the run of poor results under new manager Roy Hodgson, who saw speculation surrounding his future, because new owners had arrived and Liverpool were in the Premier League relegation zone.

Since then things have taken a turn for the better in the league, with hard-fought wins against Blackburn and particularly away at Bolton creating a sense of momentum ahead of Sunday's crucial game against Chelsea at Anfield.

Comolli has worked at Arsenal and Spurs, where he signed Gareth Bale

Henry has appointed Damien Comolli as director of football strategy to work alongside Hodgson and help with the smart recruitment policy the owners are demanding, and the American is expected to be at Anfield on Sunday to see his new sporting acquisition in the flesh.

And he will be there with Anfield a much happier place than it was a few weeks ago after the dreadful home loss to Blackpool - wins do that for a football club.

Hodgson has also seemed a lot more relaxed and comfortable in the job, which comes from winning games and perhaps he now feels more settled to the task.

What Liverpool have to do now is something that sounds so simple it is almost stupid, and yet it is what we were always told when we were winning trophies regularly at Anfield.

You have to keep going - keep doing the things that have got you your wins. It may sound daft to some, but it was sound advice to us and Liverpool would do well to heed it after vital victories.

The victories will increase that crucial footballing commodity - confidence - ahead of the meeting with the league leaders and title favourites.

If Hodgson can get a positive result against Chelsea then he will really feel his Anfield reign has started to take shape.

As I have said before, confidence is an incredible thing in football - where does it come from and where does it go? One thing you can be sure of is that it comes with getting three points on a regular basis, and Liverpool have a chance to really lift their season against Chelsea.

When you are losing games, there is no good news when you go into training, but two wins for Liverpool have illustrated just how tight the Premier League is.

Just a couple of weeks ago Tottenham were touted as top four certainties and Liverpool were in the throes of a relegation battle - now they are three points behind Harry Redknapp's side, who are in fifth place.

Liverpool were not great against either Blackburn or Bolton, but when you are down at the bottom you just need to dig in, especially away from home, and get results. This is what they have done.

Chelsea will present their stiffest challenge of the season, but they are beatable and if Liverpool can win it could be a real launchpad for their season and a statement from Hodgson that his side are heading in the right direction.

Hodgson is getting to grips after a torrid start to life at Anfield

Blackburn should have beaten Chelsea last week , and Hodgson and Liverpool can take heart from that. But one thing you know about Chelsea is that they are big, strong and will test you. They simply keep going to the bitter end no matter what circumstances they find themselves in.

If you told Hodgson now he could have a draw from this game he would probably take it, but Liverpool must also believe they can win.

When you are in the bottom three, as they were, there is no positive spin you can put on that, but if you get three points, even if you have not played particularly well, then you can look at things in an entirely different light.

And now Liverpool have two more important games coming up, at home to Chelsea and then away to Wigan.

If they get four points they can really start eyeing up those places near the top of the table, but if they struggle then the pendulum will swing back the other way and the pressure will be on them once again.

Liverpool will have been delighted with events at Bolton. They had to scrap away, David Ngog came on as substitute and looked like a player and then Maxi Rodgriguez got that vital late winner.

The goal was created by a bit of magic from Fernando Torres, who also scored the winner against Blackburn.

World Cup-winner Torres has struggled for form this season

He has shown he can inflict damage on Chelsea in the past and Hodgson will hope these two key contributions will help rebuild his fragile confidence.

Liverpool will be without Joe Cole against his old club , although he has not played well this season, and as ever they will rely hugely on Torres and Steven Gerrard.

Nobody in their right mind would say Torres is back to the player he was 18 months ago, but maybe his part in the two wins will be the start of helping him to get back there.

There is clearly a confidence issue with Torres and you can see the signs in his game.

You can debate the lack of supply, but you can also see - and it was evident in the second half at Bolton - that when the ball is played into him, his first touch is not bad but it was invariably back towards his own goal. This is a sure indicator of low confidence.

When he was full of confidence he would simply take a touch, turn and run straight at the heart of the opposition defence, so often to devastating effect.

Liverpool will hope for more of that against John Terry and company - and if Hodgson can get a positive result then he will really feel his Anfield reign has started to take shape.

Alan Hansen was talking to BBC Sport's Phil McNulty

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