Andrew Robertson admitted to feeling a sense of relief after Liverpool beat Huddersfield 1-0 on Saturday without ever hitting top gear.
Mohamed Salah scored the only goal of the game at the John Smith's Stadium after 24 minutes as Jurgen Klopp's side moved up to second in the Premier League above Chelsea, level on 23 points with leaders Manchester City but with an inferior goal difference.
Huddersfield, however, hit the post, had a goal disallowed and saw a strong penalty claim turned down when James Milner appeared to handle the ball in the area.
"Yes of course, there's a bit of relief. It was a tough game against a very good side," said Robertson.
"It's important you come to these places and you win the game.
"Luckily we managed to get our noses in front and we've seen it out from there. We can play a lot better, but they made it hard."
Robertson saw enough from David Wagner's side to suggest they can stay in the Premier League, despite Huddersfield sitting 19th in the table with no wins.
"We weren't surprised by Huddersfield at all," added Robertson.
"We did our analysis and in our meetings, the analysis team and our manager were saying they were a better team than the points suggest and I think they proved that.
"They played very well and they're probably a wee bit unfortunate to be where they are in the table.
"I think they will have a positive season. They just need to get up and running and hopefully they will do that, but for us it was about getting the three points.
"We weren't at our best but these are the games you have to win if you want to challenge and we'll play a lot better."