REDS URGED TO KEEP MOMENTUM

liverpool — Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believes that his team will be close to delivering Champions League football if they can continue their form from the opening weeks of the season.

The Anfield club, who host Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday, were beaten for the second time in the league this season when they lost 2-0 at leaders Arsenal last weekend.

But with no European football or League Cup action to contend with, they currently reside in third place with 20 points from their first 10 games of the season.

And Rodgers feels that maintaining that pace will be enough to avoid extending their exile from the Champions League into a fifth season.

Ahead of the visit of the Cottagers, Rodgers has been boosted by the availability of Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho, who came off the bench at the Emirates Stadium following a shoulder injury, as well as Glen Johnson, who missed that game through illness.

The four teams below them are all within a point, but Rodgers feels his side are on the right track.

“If you look at where we’re at, if you’re averaging two points a game, you would like to think you would get into the Champions League,” Rodgers said.

“We’re just treating every game as an important game for us in our quest this year. We just need to keep focusing and keep our concentration.

“We’ve got some players coming back now, like young Philippe Coutinho, who adds a genuine quality to our game. My history as a coach shows that I love players with personality and technique. This is a player that has got a high level of technical ability and a strong personality.

To find this inner belief and strength today given recent results was the key

Andre Villas-Boas