Boss: No Russian rest for big guns

The boss utilised the earlier rounds of the Europa League to give the team's youngsters a chance to gain experience of continental football.

However, with the competition now in its knockout stages, Rodgers insists the Reds will name a strong line-up against Zenit St Petersburg on Thursday evening.

He told Liverpoolfc.com: "I want to go in as strong as we can. I think we're on the down slope now - we've only got 12 games in the league and hopefully we can progress in the Europa League. We'll be looking to go strong.

"The Sunday game [our rearranged clash with Swansea] hasn't helped us, if I'm being perfectly honest.

"We weren't due to play Swansea until the following week and I would have thought that after that was the best time to play that game.

"On the back of the players playing international games and two tough games away to Arsenal and Manchester City, it's something we'll need to look at.

"But there certainly won't be wholesale changes as there were in the earlier rounds because this is a competition that we want to be strong in and we've now only got two opportunities to get through to the next round.

"We'll assess and see how the group is, but the majority of the squad will travel."

Two men who won't be involved are January signings Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho.

The duo are ineligible to figure for the Reds in the Europa League having featured already for Chelsea and Inter Milan in Europe this season.

Rodgers explained: "Because of being involved with Chelsea in the Champions League and then them dropping down into the Europa League, it makes Daniel ineligible to play in the competition for us.

"Likewise, it's the same for young Philippe Coutinho, so those two miss out - but it's an opportunity for others to come into the group and hopefully prove their worth."

Having been eliminated from both domestic cup competitions, the Europa League represents Liverpool's last chance of silverware in Rodgers' maiden season at the Anfield helm.

The Northern Irishman insists it's a tournament Liverpool will be going all out to try and win.

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"It's always been a real focus to do well in it, but obviously it's now the last trophy we can aim for this season, so there's no doubt the focus is narrowed into it," he said.

"Earlier in the season, because of the size of our squad, we had to try and manage the group games and that bore fruit for us because some of our young players got good experience in the tournament and we ended up coming out on top of the group.

"The Capital One Cup was a competition where it was an opportunity for the younger players to play and even though we wanted to do well in it, at that stage it wasn't a priority.

"But certainly going forward, every competition for us is vitally important, whether it's the league, the domestic cup competitions or the European games because the history of this great club has been built on those great successes and that's something we want to maintain."

While Liverpool's trip to Russia represents the second of three games in the space of a week, Zenit are currently in the midst of a winter break.

Nonetheless, the Reds' scouting network have still been able to do their homework on our opponents and Rodgers knows they will provide a stern test.

"They've played some games since [going on the break]," said the manager. "We had them watched in their training camp when they went away, so it hasn't stopped us doing our homework and analysis of the opponent.

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"Chris Davies, our head of opposition analysis, went out to watch them play in a couple of friendly games.

"So they might not be up to total match speed because they don't actually play their next competitive game until March, but they've certainly got some top players there that will provide a real test for us."

Temperatures in St Petersburg are likely to plunge well below zero, while the pitch at the Petrovsky Stadium is likely to suffer because of the harsh winter conditions.

Rodgers knows what kind of qualities his players will need to display if they're to obtain a positive outcome.

"Character - that will be the name of the game," he said. "But it's certainly something the players are used to here in Britain, and there's just been a cold spell of late.

"Any game away from home is always a test of the character within your group and team. I am confident with the players we have, our senior players, we've got real characters in there. It's the first leg and we want to make sure we put on a good performance and take a positive result back to Anfield."

Since arriving at Anfield in June, Rodgers has immersed himself in the club's history and tradition.

So how eager is he to emulate some of the club's greatest nights of the past and bring European success back to Anfield?

"Very - that's what this great club is about," replied Rodgers. "But I am also realistic and know it won't happen straight away.

"This is a wonderful club - you go through the real traditions and the players that have been created and made history here. I look at all the managers closely that have been here.

"It's a club that is steeped in that tradition and hopefully in my time here we can add to that collection."