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Rodgers: Liverpool back in transition phase

Brendan Rodgers warned that there was more hard work to come at Liverpool © Getty Images

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Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted his side are in a period of transition similar to when he first took over at Anfield.

The summer departure of leading goalscorer Luis Suarez, the signing of a host of new players, and injuries to several key players have all played havoc with the start of Liverpool's season.

Rodgers' side have won just twice in the Premier League so far and have only taken one point in their last three matches, during which they have suffered defeats to West Ham and Aston Villa.

While Rodgers admitted his side would need more time to turn things around, he denied he was facing the biggest crisis of his managerial career after hopes were raised by last year's second-place finish.

"No, not really. It's an exciting challenge. This is an incredible job and nothing has changed," he said.

"The first six months were difficult here but for 18 months we've been on a magic carpet ride in terms of our performance level and everything improving.

"For me it would have been a case of keeping the squad we had and adding a few bodies to thicken up the squad. But that wasn't the case. There was big change here in the summer and we lost a world-class player [when Suarez was sold to Barcelona].

"We had to improve the squad and bring in a number of players and unfortunately we've lost a number of our key players to injuries. It brings us into a little period of transition again. It's something that was difficult in the first few months when I got here.

"You have to go through some pain along the way. We are in a difficult moment but that's the great challenge for myself and the players.

"We will look at it even harder and analyse it more just to ensure we keep it simple and keep to the values and ethics of this team - hard work, honesty and concentrating on our performance."

Liverpool will be desperate to claim three points when they host West Brom on Saturday, the same team against whom Rodgers started his Anfield reign.

"There are similarities in that it feels like a new group again," Rodgers added. "I'm not here to whine or complain about injuries. We just need to get on with working hard and go back to core principles which our good performances and wins were all about.

"The job now is similar to then in terms of need to integrate all of that to create winning performances."

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