BR: I'll fight for Stevie's dream

Gerrard has won the European Cup, two FA Cups, a UEFA Cup and three League Cups during his 15-year Anfield career; however, the 32-year-old is yet to get his hands on English football's greatest prize.

And in a press conference at Melwood on Wednesday, Rodgers labelled his captain 'iconic' and insisted the Huyton-born midfielder still has enough time to fulfil his title-winning dreams.

"Steven still has a number of years left in his career," said the manager. "His dream is to win the Barclays Premier League with Liverpool and the supporters and I will fight for our lives to try and make that possible.

"He's an iconic figure for this football club. His status and everything he has gained has been through Liverpool Football Club. He's won every major honour you could possibly win at this club but obviously there is one missing that he will want to fight for the rest of his career to win here.

"He's realistic as well. He knows the reality. He's not misguided in anything. I'm delighted with his contribution. He's been brilliant since I've been here. I've seen him from the outside but from the inside, working with him as a man and as a player, he's a wonderful role model for everyone here."

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Rodgers' immediate concern is Thursday's Europa League play-off, second-leg clash with Hearts at Anfield.

Liverpool hold a 1-0 lead from last week's first leg, however, despite having the advantage of an away goal, Rodgers insists his side will approach the return with the right attitude, having been impressed by the test his side were given north of the border.

Rodgers revealed: "The game plan is very simple - it's to win. It was a difficult game last week, the atmosphere and the Hearts fans were fantastic, they did their team really proud. They really gave their team energy and lifted them up and carried them.

"They've got some good players like Templeton and Patterson. McGowan got forward well as well, so it's a game we won't take lightly. Hopefully at Anfield this season, we'll be really strong and aggressive in our game and hopefully that will get us through.

"But it was important for us to get a good result and obviously, winning the game, has set it up nicely for us for tomorrow night."

Sandwiched in between the two meetings with Hearts was a Barclays Premier League encounter against champions Manchester City which the Reds perhaps deserved more than a 2-2 draw from, and Rodgers hopes to take momentum from that result.

"Tomorrow we'll be strong and we'll be looking to go and win the game," he continued. "We just need to keep the momentum going. Our performance levels were excellent at the weekend and we want to keep that going forward.

"There's no doubt the advantage is with us but we're certainly not going to be complacent. We're very much focused on the task. 1-0 can be a dangerous score. If we perform like we did at the weekend then hopefully that will get us a good result."

Rodgers stressed his commitment to the competition and ambitions of competing for the trophy, but explained that he intends to focus on one game at a time, starting with Hearts.

"We want to go as far as we possibly can," said the boss when asked what the Reds can achieve in the Europa League.

"I think there will be other things that might determine that later on. To win anything and to achieve anything, you need to have a good squad and a strong squad and I believe I've got some terrific players here.

"The most important thing is getting through tomorrow night; there's no point looking beyond that. So my only focus is the next game. Every competition we are in we want to do as well as we possibly can."