Brendan Rodgers is adamant he will turn Liverpool into Barclays Premier League title challengers once more and ensure the disappointments of this season are a blip.
It is 25 years to the day since a 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers at Anfield secured Liverpool the last of their 18 titles and they will mark the anniversary at Hull by trying to rekindle their hopes of a top-four finish.
Rodgers, who will be without Daniel Sturridge again due to a hip problem, guided Liverpool to within two points of the championship 12 months ago but hopes of going a step better were ruined by a dreadful start to the campaign.
The manager has ‘absolute belief’, though, that his side will thrive again. ‘When I came in here it was a long way off,’ said Rodgers. ‘The club was eighth and you would never have even talked about the title. It’s a mark of how the club has moved forward that there is such disappointment that we weren’t challenging this year.
‘Of course it’s been disappointing not to have challenged this time. I’ve no doubt we can push on again. There is a greater base and foundation in the team where they understand the principles of how we work.
‘It will be a big summer for us to find the right type of player that can come in and do that. Then we can go and work how we’ve worked for a lot of the last 18 months.’
A picture emerged after the 0-0 draw at West Bromwich on Saturday of Rodgers sitting on the floor, looking disheartened, but he stressed the image was misleading.
‘They have removed the benches from the dug-outs, so I had nowhere to sit!’ said Rodgers. ‘My two assistants were sat on the ice box.
‘I’m as hungry as I’ve ever been. I’m ambitious to win and there is no greater place than here to win. I am still committed to doing that here.’
Hull manager Steve Bruce, meanwhile, believes his team will have to beat one of the Premier League’s big names if they are to escape relegation.
Four of Hull’s final five matches are at home but three of those fixtures are against Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United.
‘Any result against the big boys is great. We need a result against one of them and let’s hope we can get it done early,’ said Bruce, whose side eased their relegation fears with an impressive 2-0 win against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
‘We’re quietly confident that, starting with Liverpool, we can get enough points to stay up.’ – Daily Mail