No old pals' act for Clarke

The Liverpool first-team coach is close friends with the Swans gaffer having struck up a friendship during their days working at youth-team level.

Clarke then recommended Rodgers to former club Chelsea when he was promoted to the role of Jose Mourinho's assistant at Stamford Bridge in 2004.

The Scot explained to Liverpoolfc.tv: "I know Brendan well. We came across each other what seems like a really long time ago when I was managing the youth team at Chelsea and Brendan was youth-team manager at Reading. We had some good matches and got to know each other through that.

"When Mourinho went to Chelsea, I moved up to work with Jose and recommended that Brendan could be one of the candidates to come in and take the job with the youth team.

"Fortunately for everybody, Brendan got the job and did a great job for Chelsea."

He added: "We stay in contact regularly. I probably speak to Brendan a couple of times a month - obviously not this week because we've got different agendas at the weekend. I haven't seen him for a while, so I'm looking forward to seeing him after the game.

"He's done a terrific job at Swansea. I hope they have a big reversal this weekend, but after that I wish them all the best."

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Rodgers guided Swansea to promotion to the Barclays Premier League at the first time of asking after taking up the reins at the Liberty Stadium last year.

The Jacks have remained true to their passing brand of the football in the top-flight - something Clarke has total admiration for.

"They trust the way they play. They played that way last season and got great rewards for it in the Championship, so there's no need for them to change their style and philosophy," he said.

"I saw a bit of them last season and they played a lot of good football in the Championship. They deserved to come up, in my opinion. They've come in and acquitted themselves very well, especially with their home form.

"I know Brendan well, and he's had the same philosophy since I've known him right from the start. He's always taken that through.

"I think it is a style that is conducive (to staying in the Premier League). If you look at the top teams, they all try and play football. I don't think you can pigeonhole clubs or teams - you have to allow them to play their way and if it's good enough they'll stay in the league."

Liverpool head into the game on the back of successive victories over Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion.

The win at the Hawthorns was particularly gratifying as the Reds collected a well-deserved clean sheet.

Nonetheless, Clarke insists goals for, rather than against, will always take precedence.

"The satisfying thing was that we won the game - and we won the game comfortably," he said. "Obviously the clean sheet was a bonus because it meant as a team we defended well.

"You always try to build on your positives. If you defend well in matches, you know you have a chance to win them. That's always the platform for any team, although if you look at some of the recent results in the Premier League you wouldn't think that was the case!

"But most teams set out to be strong defensively, build upon that and then look to win the game that way."

Clarke continued: "I've got to be honest, I think the fans and the media speak about it a little bit more than the players.

"The players know at any given time you can concede a goal in a game, but that doesn't matter as long as you win the game and you feel as though the team is performing well defensively.

"You can have a great performance defensively and still lose a goal because of a slip, somebody falls over on the pitch or the referee makes a bad decision. You know you can concede goals, so a clean sheet is not the prime focus.

"If it happens then great, but you concede one goal but score two at the other end and win the match, then as a defender you're just as happy."

One man who has impressed in recent weeks is Daniel Agger, who was restored to the starting XI having recovered from a rib injury.

The Dane's ability to start attacks from the back was on full view against West Brom and Clarke feels he adds another strong attribute to Liverpool's offensive play.

He said: "Daniel had a great start to the season, picked up an unfortunate injury and worked ever so hard to get himself back into contention again. He's come back in, played the last two games and played very well.

"If you want to play passing football, which we do here at Liverpool Football Club - we want to pass the ball and be progressive with our passing - if you have defenders who can pass the ball it's an attribute.

"But it's not only Daniel, all of the defenders are capable of passing the ball from the back and that's a big advantage to the team."

Agger was restored to his more familiar centre-back role at the Hawthorns having been deployed in a left-back position in the Carling Cup clash at Stoke City.

"He's versatile and he's good enough to play in any position at the back," added Clarke.

"He is left-footed, but you could play him as the right-sided centre-back and he would deal with it. You look for that in your defenders - you like them to be versatile."

Liverpool will aim to bring a sequence of successive 1-1 draws at Anfield to a close on Saturday - but Clarke adopts a pragmatic view when discussing the key to ending that run against Swansea.

"Scoring more goals than the opposition (is the key)," he states.

"There's no hang up, there's no concern. The last two performances at Anfield have been very good - all we didn't do was score one more goal than the opposition.

"That's the aim this weekend."