• FA Cup

Liverpool's best football is yet to come, says Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers admitted Liverpool are yet to produce their best football this season but his side can still challenge in three competitions - despite them not signing reinforcements in the January transfer window.

Liverpool were narrowly beaten by Chelsea in their League Cup semi-final last week and face a tough FA Cup fourth round replay at Bolton on Wednesday. However, Rodgers believes the defeat at Stamford Bridge will inspire his players to reach the FA Cup final - particularly with both Chelsea and Manchester City out of the competition.

Back to Australia

• Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre says the club have more than 600,000 fans in Australia after confirming they will play two friendlies there in July.
• Brendan Rodgers' side will face Brisbane Roar at the Suncorp Stadium on July 17 and Adelaide United at the Adelaide Oval three days later.
• The fixtures will be played two years after Liverpool's last visit to Australia, when they beat Melbourne Victory 2-0 in front of 95,000 fans at the MCG.
• Chief commercial officer Billy Hogan said last October that, according to research, the club had 580 million supporters around the world.
• Ayre told Liverpool's website: "We visited Australia for the first time two years ago and the support we received from our Australian fans was incredible.
• "Liverpool FC has over 600,000 supporters in Australia and we look forward to meeting as many of them as possible while we are in the country.
• Pre-season is an important time for the team as they prepare for the upcoming season and the matches against Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United are an exciting part of that preparation, giving our supporters a chance to see the team up close, no matter how far away from Anfield they live."

"After the Chelsea game there was a feeling 'would it disrupt or provoke a negative reaction to our season?' if anything it's only promoted the development and momentum that we have," Rodgers said.

"Of course we wanted to get to the final but the performance level from the two games and leading into those games has given us great encouragement.Our best football is yet to come, we had a real difficult start to the season when other teams had full squads and playing really well.

"For us, we needed to find a way to get back to our identity again and 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."

"There's still good teams in it but that only counts if you get through yourself. The Bolton game is a tough one. You get through each game and it optimises your chance of getting to the final. I repeat, we are in two cup competitions and we want to go as far as we possibly can in them. That will be reflected in our teams, our drive and our desire to get through in the competition."

The trip to Bolton will be Liverpool's 37th game of the season - six less than Rodgers oversaw without European football last season.

Having spent over £100 million on new recruits last summer, the Anfield club did not strengthen further in January. Despite the likes of Lazar Markovic and Mario Balotelli receiving criticism over their performances this season, Rodgers believes his squad has enough depth and quality to pose a threat for the next few years.

"We played 43 games last year and the idea [in the summer] was to top up our squad to cope with the extra games," Rodgers said.

"There was a lot of development for those players in there. They have been brought in because we want to be challenging in the league and competitions for a number of years. For that you need to have a good squad.

"I know the players are excited and looking forward and are enjoying how they are playing and working at the moment, we want to keep that momentum going."

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