(REUTERS) - Liverpool have found a way to recover from a tough start to the season and with the race for a top-four finish hotting up they are going into matches believing they can win them all, manager Brendan Rodgers said on Monday.
Last season's Premier League runners-up struggled to cope with the new-found expectation thrust upon them at the start of the campaign while a host of new arrivals found it difficult to make up for the sale of talisman Luis Suarez to Barcelona.
But Liverpool are now the form side in the league and their unbeaten run since early December has moved them up to fifth - two points behind fourth-placed Manchester United.
With Champions League qualification a distinct possibility after Sunday's 2-1 victory over champions Manchester City, Rodgers is delighted his side have finally found their groove.
"It takes a little bit of time to get going. We bring in a certain method of work and that takes a bit of time to get used to. I think hopefully we'll see the longer I'm with the group and the team the better they'll become," he told a news conference.
"Unfortunately this year there was big change in the summer so that same time had to be given to the players who came in and because of the players who were injured or lost. But unfortunately in modern football affordability to get that time and patience isn't so much there now, but we just had to stay strong, we knew we were in a tough moment but we found the solution and the players have been performing at a high level."
"Every single game is super competitive and every team has got quality. For us we're playing at Anfield and we're getting back to the sort of form we've had for about 18 months, which is going into every game with confidence, respecting the opponent but believing that we can win."
Having downed second-placed City, Liverpool now turn their attentions to relegation-threatened Burnley on Wednesday.
Rodgers will be without Jordon Ibe "for a few weeks" after the winger picked up a knee injury against Besiktas last week but captain Steven Gerrard is making good progress in his recovery from a hamstring problem.
After scraping a 1-0 win over Sean Dyche's Burnley in December, Rodgers said he was expecting another tough test at Anfield.
