BR: This is your chance - take it

Shelvey, who scored an outstanding long-range goal for the U21s in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday night, has made 31 first-team appearances so far this season, but hasn't started for the senior side since early February.

However, with Gerrard ruled out of the last two games after shoulder surgery, the 21-year-old could come into the reckoning to begin Sunday's trip to Fulham.

Rodgers told his pre-match press conference at Melwood: "Jonjo is a talented player. He is a young player that came here with big expectations and it's sometimes difficult, but I think he has played quite a lot this year.

"In the last few months he hasn't been in the team and because we've been down to one game a week, it's been difficult for him to show.

"You saw from his goal during the week for the U21s against Manchester United he has fantastic quality. The power and quality of that strike showed what he's got.

"He'll come into contention to play, as will some of the other players who have been outstanding in training and trying to demonstrate they want to be in the team."

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The January arrival of Philippe Coutinho from Inter Milan provided Shelvey with further competition for a first-team berth - and Rodgers has been pleased with the reaction of his No.33.

He explained: "We're trying to create that competition. We're hoping to improve competition in the summer again because there hasn't been enough of it.

"When you bring in good players, it always creates a reaction from other good players. Jonjo has worked well and is looking to find himself in the team, but obviously the form over the second half of the season has made it difficult.

"All they [the players] can do is do what he's done, he's tried to work hard and do well - and if the chance comes, you've got to take it."

Reporters asked Rodgers if the absence of Gerrard placed more pressure on any of his less-experienced teammates to perform to a higher level.

The manager replied: "If you're a young player playing alongside the likes of Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher or some of the other experienced players, that's a benefit for you.

"What you're looking for if they come into the team when Steven is not playing is just to take on that extra responsibility.

"The comfort they have here is that we rely on the collective - not just one player. Any player coming into the team, they're not in on their own. They're in as part of a team.

"There's no doubt, if a young player is playing with someone like Steven Gerrard, his quality and experience can really help them out on the field - and if he's not playing, it can be a miss.

"But what it does, it provides an opportunity and for the players coming in, it's a great opportunity for them to go in and show they can contribute to this team."

Sunday's trip to Fulham will represent Jamie Carragher's final away game as a Liverpool player.

The 35-year-old is set to captain the Reds with Gerrard not involved, and Rodgers took time to pay a glowing tribute to the veteran centre-back ahead of his retirement this summer.

He said: "He will definitely be able to do that [captain Liverpool] in these next couple of games and I hope he continues the form he's shown, not just since he's come into the team, but what he has shown for me in every game he has played.

"I didn't put him in at the start of the season purely because we were looking to the future and I knew what Jamie's plans were for the next year to 18 months. But in every game he has played for me this season, he has been absolutely outstanding.

"It was no direct result of Martin Skrtel's performances, I just felt the team needed some leadership and organisation. Since Jamie has come in, he's been arguably one of the best defenders in the Barclays Premier League.

"He's been a great man to work with. His influence will be missed around Melwood and the changing rooms in particular.

"I'll miss the football chats I've had with him on a near enough daily basis. He's been absolutely brilliant. For a young manager coming into a club like this, the senior players have been outstanding - and Jamie has been one of them.

"He's been a real fantastic servant to this club and a real colossal player. He'll want to finish well like we all do, and that'll be the aim in the next couple of games."

While Carragher will go down in the football annuals as one of Liverpool's greatest-ever servants, Rodgers also took a moment to nod towards the future.

The manager is satisfied with the progress his side have made this season and is confident they'll continue on a similar trajectory next term.

"This season was about putting that base in place - a lot of great work has gone on off the field here - and putting the infrastructure and processes in place that will hopefully allow us to move forward," he explained. "There have been young players getting the opportunity to play and I've seen development in the players.

"We're here to win and next year can be a big year for us if we can add the right types of mentalities to the group over the course of the summer and make sure we become more consistent."

Asked about the prospects of Liverpool making it all the way to the top of the Barclays Premier League in the coming years, Rodgers replied: "That's always the aim and we don't start the season to finish just fourth. For every team and club of this status, that is the ultimate objective.

"Again, you have to be realistic. The realism is, it was only earlier this season we got two consecutive wins in the Premier League for the first time in over a year.

"It's something you have to put into perspective as well.

"It's always the aim to finish at the top. Every big club will go in with that ambition, but we know it's a process to arrive there and we're confident next year we can make those steps to keep our progress moving on.

"It's [first place] where we want to be. We know it's a long road - but it has to be. That's the nature of this club. We don't like being second best and being behind; the history of this club dictates that."

A sixth-place finish is all Liverpool have to play for on paper in the remainder of this current season, but Rodgers is eager to stress the fixtures with Fulham and Queens Park Rangers have no less significance to the Reds.

He stated: "It's very important for us these next couple of games and next one is the most important. Our second half to the season has been good. I think there are only two teams who have lost the same number of games we've lost in 2013 - United and Tottenham.

"Our goals record is improving and defensively we're improving. We're making steps in the right direction, but the reality is very simple - we're 30 points behind the leaders and we're 12 points behind fourth place, so we've still got a lot of work to do here."

Looking ahead to Fulham, Rodgers warned that the Londoners will be looking to sign off from Craven Cottage on a high.

"I know it'll be a difficult game," he said. "Fulham did the double over Liverpool last season and played very well early on in the season, so we'll go into it expecting a tough game.

"Obviously with it being the end of the season and the last game at Craven Cottage, they're going to want to win.

"Martin [Jol] is a very experienced manager throughout Europe and in particular in the Premier League. His teams always do very well at home.

"We'll be ready. Our motivation and commitment is still very strong. Our season will not finish until the last whistle against QPR."

Meanwhile, Rodgers was quizzed about the news this week that Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson will retire at the end of the current season and be replaced in the Old Trafford hotseat by Everton's David Moyes.

"First and foremost, I think all the words that have been spoken about Sir Alex over the last number of days, I'll join that," he said. "What an incredible professional achievement he's had at the club and he'll certainly go down as one of the greatest managers that this country has ever seen. It's a wonderful achievement.

"It was obviously planned and I'm sure he'd been thinking about it for a while because you don't just make that decision I'm sure."

He added: "I'm pleased for him [Moyes]. He obviously wanted to go there, but he'll look to finish well in his last couple of games [at Everton]."