Brendan Rodgers says Liverpool squad can handle extra games

Brendan Rodgers believes Liverpool have the squad to compete on three remaining fronts and thinks they have added incentive to reach Wembley following the League Cup semi-final defeat by Chelsea.

Liverpool travel to Bolton Wanderers for an FA Cup fourth-round replay tonight having resisted adding to their squad in the January window or, in the case of Divock Origi, having failed to tempt Lille to release the striker from a one-year loan arrangement.

The replay will be Liverpool's 37th game of the campaign, only six matches fewer than Rodgers' team played in the whole of last season, when they did not have European football. But the Liverpool manager is confident the summer's €155 million outlay on new recruits has given his squad the depth to challenge for the FA Cup, Europa League and Champions League qualification.

"We played 43 games last year and the idea [in the summer] was to top up our squad to cope with the extra games," said Rodgers, who has Steven Gerrard available for the Bolton tie, and a 700th Liverpool appearance, if selected, after his recovery from a tight hamstring.

Momentum

“Of course there was a lot of development that had to take place with those players but we want to be in competitions until late on for a number of years, to be challenging for leagues, and you need a good squad for that. The players are enjoying how they are playing at the moment and we want to keep our momentum going.”

Neil Lennon’s Championship team held Liverpool to a goalless draw at Anfield and after the elimination of Chelsea and Manchester City from the competition by lower-league clubs, Rodgers was reluctant to admit the FA Cup has opened up for his side.

“We are in two cup competitions and want to go as far as we possibly can in them,” he said. “That will be reflected in our teams, our drive and our desire to get through.”

The Liverpool manager did concede that missing out on Wembley in the Capital One Cup, and the manner of his team’s two performances against Chelsea in the semi-final, would provide an extra spur for reaching the FA Cup final.

Great encouragement

Rodgers said: “After the Chelsea game there was a feeling of ‘would it disrupt our season or provoke a negative reaction?’ But, if anything, it’s only promoted the development and the momentum that we have. Of course we wanted to reach the final but the performance level in the two games and leading into those games has given us great encouragement.

“Our best football is yet to come. We had a really difficult start to the season and we needed to find a way to get back our identity again. We have got that and our best football is ahead of us. We want to take that into the games and get to cup finals.”

Meanhwile, Liverpool have announced playmaker Philippe Coutinho has signed a new long-term contract with the club. It is understood Coutinho, who joined from Inter Milan for €11.2 million in January 2013, is now contracted to the Merseyside outfit until the summer of 2020, having previously been on a deal that was due to end in 2018.

The 22-year-old Brazil international told liverpoolfc.com: “I’m really happy. It’s a dream come true playing for this great club and being part of this squad.” Guardian Service