Rodgers: What I said to Sterling

The manager explained how he spoke with the forward - who celebrates his 20^th birthday on Monday - following last month's defeat at Crystal Palace to urge him to get back to doing what he does best on the pitch.

"After the Palace game, I reaffirmed to Raheem his qualities and his strengths," Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo.

"His pace, his skill, his directness - that's his game.

"I spoke to a lot of the individuals, and also as a group really that our standards needed to improve.

"For Raheem, it's about realising what those standards are and that is for him being direct, being quick, being aggressive, and pressing the ball really hard. And in the last three games he's been good at that."

Sterling has been an integral part of Rodgers' plans since he was appointed Liverpool boss in the summer of 2012.

The Northern Irishman has been pleased with the No.31's development over that period, and in particular his tactical improvement.

"I think you have seen him develop into being a very good young footballer now," Rodgers said.

"He's not just someone who can run direct with the ball, he can play one-touch, he can play two-touch. He's such a threat.

"You looked at him the other night against the boy (Ritchie) de Laet. He is a super quick player, but Raheem's pace was frightening.

"His runs were very good and at 19 years of age, nearly 20, I think he's shown he has gone to an extra level."

Rodgers admits he is aware of a need to manage Sterling's game-time to ensure the England international can keep operating at peak form.

"There will be a period where I need to do that [rest him] and that was always in the plan," he said.

"Of course there is the short term, but you have got to think in the longer term.

"He's a kid coming off the back end of a long season where he played a lot of games, and then went on travelling to a World Cup.

"I think for a lot of the players that were away it takes a bit of time to get going again."

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