Swansea City v Liverpool: Rodgers bullish ahead of clash with former club

Brendan Rodgers says his in-form Liverpool side are “re-energised and refreshed” ahead of their Premier League clash with his former club Swansea City on Monday.

The Merseyside club were held to a goalless draw by Championship side Blackburn Rovers last weekend, so will need to win a replay at Ewood Park next month in order to face Aston Villa in an FA Cup semi-final.

Liverpool had played three games in the space of six days before facing Rovers and Rodgers is in no doubt that such a hectic schedule took its toll on his team, who are unbeaten in 11 Premier League matches and firmly in the hunt for a top-four finish.

He said: “Our last performance against Blackburn was at the end of a real tough period of games.

“I’ve seen all the numbers and all the statistics on it and, physically, it was the lowest we have been for this season. Now we’re re-energised and refreshed mentally and physically.

“We go into a run of games now, starting with Swansea, and we feel we can go in and push on in terms of our level of performance again. We know it will be tough.

“The players have been brilliant this week. They’re looking really sharp, looking really confident and we just want to continue with our sequence of performances and good results.”

Liverpool have reeled off four consecutive Premier League wins and won nine games in their long unbeaten run ahead of the trip to the Liberty Stadium.

That outstanding form has given them a great chance of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League and Rodgers is urging his players to maintain their momentum.

He added: “I think it’s going to be very tight, of course. A number of the teams have been up there for a lot of the season.

“We’ve re-joined the race for that in the last three months. We’re really looking forward to these remaining games now. Everything counts in the games.”

Captain Steven Gerrard is back in contention after missing seven matches due to a hamstring injury, while former Swansea midfielder Joe Allen and centre-back Martin Skrtel are also available.

Full-backs Jose Enrique and Jon Flanagan (both knee) have been back in training, but neither player is expected to feature as Liverpool attempt to match a club record of six consecutive clean sheets away from home in the league.

Swansea have been beaten twice by Liverpool already this season and manager Garry Monk will be looking for a response to their 3-2 defeat at Tottenham last time out.

The Welsh club should also be refreshed after not playing for just under a fortnight and Monk this week spoke of his target of surpassing the club record of 47 points in the Premier League.

Striker Bafetimbi Gomis is set to feature despite fainting at White Hart Lane.