Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers says although he is disappointed at exiting the Europa League on Thursday night, his side’s “battling” performance has given him hope they can finish the season strongly.
The Reds almost pulled out a famous European comeback when they beat Zenit St Petersburg 3-1 at Anfield to level the tie at 3-3. However, the Russians go through to the last 16 of the competition on the away goals rule.
With eleven games to go, Rodgers is now demanding a big finish from his players in the Premier League to try and finish as high up the table as possible.
“We lost the battle,” he is quoted by BBC Sport as saying. “But the war going forward will very much be won if we keep performing like that.”
“There are 11 games to go and we want to finish as high up the league as we can, keep the improvement going and keep the progression going. We do not stop until the whistle blows against Queens Park Rangers in our final league game.
“It has been difficult in the last few months playing so many games – it is hard to tactically prepare as much as you want. We will not drop off and, if anything, we will get stronger.”
Liverpool are currently in seventh place in the table, 3 points behind sixth place Everton, 5 points of the Europa League qualifying position of fifth, which Arsenal currently occupy, and 9 points off Tottenham in the fourth Champions League place.
The Reds have a weekend off now, before they go to Wigan on Saturday 2nd March and following that, West Ham at home on Sunday, 7th April.
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