Boss: No doubts we can handle pressure
Brendan Rodgers is calling on his Liverpool players to be aggressive and focused in their final 10 Barclays Premier League games of the season and seize the opportunity to chase down a top-four finish.
The boss is convinced his players can handle the demands of pursuing Manchester United, while staving off competition from the likes of Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur for a Champions League spot.
United claimed a 3-0 victory over Spurs on Sunday, moving them five points clear, but the gap will be closed to just two points if Rodgers' side can pick up a victory against his former club, Swansea City, tonight.
"We have 30 points to play for so I am guessing it will be another 23 points [to make the top four]," Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo. "That is how competitive it has been this year.
"We have won nine and drawn two of the last 11. It has been a great run but now we have to be focused on these last 10 matches.
"Everything counts. We have to be aggressive in our game and now we have to nail it in the last 10. I know the players are focused on that.
"Last season will help us. We dealt really well with the pressure. We won 12 out of 14 in the run-in and it was unfortunate that we lost one [against Chelsea]. Okay, that was the one that mattered but it wasn't through not being able to deal with pressure. We were unlucky that day.
"We conceded right at the end of the first half and then right at the end of the second half. We dealt with pressure remarkably well and our game is based on that. We play a technical game and that is a big part of why my teams do well in the second part of the season.
"Our game is based on dealing with pressure because [the players] have the courage to play, so when it comes to these moments, we do well with it."
Rodgers reported during his Melwood press conference on Saturday morning that the likes of Martin Skrtel, Steven Gerrard and Joe Allen could all potentially be fit for selection at the Liberty Stadium tonight.
Gerrard has not featured for the Reds since limping from the turf with a hamstring problem during the 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield last month.
"Steven is back fit and we have Lucas Leiva coming back soon too," said the boss. "That will add to the competition for places and with one game a week, barring the cup game, then everyone is going to be fighting and being competitive about playing.
"The beauty of this season is that everyone had an opportunity in the first three or four months of the season and then we found a way to win. It is something everyone has to respect. It is about the team and the spirit of the team and I will always pick the best team I feel to win a game."
Former Red Jonjo Shelvey will be looking to make his fifth appearance against the club since departing Merseyside for the Liberty Stadium in July 2013.
The midfielder scored in home and away clashes against Liverpool last season, netting after two minutes of the 2-2 draw in Wales in September, before firing an impressive strike at the Kop end in February.
"He is a good kid, Jonjo, he came here as a young boy and it was difficult," said Rodgers. "He wanted to play and I wasn't going to be able to guarantee him that.
"He needed to go for his career to play somewhere regularly and he has done that pretty much for Swansea. I recommended that he went to Swansea.
"I think it was right for both at the time. History shows how we have developed and progressed. It was the right thing to do for Jonjo."