Rodgers: Reds are in transition
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers admits the team are back in a period of transition similar to when he first arrived at Anfield and accepts there will be more pain to come before things pick up again.
The departure of striker Luis Suarez, integrating a raft of summer signings and injuries to a number of players have all contributed to a difficult start to the campaign.
They have yet to reach anything close to the blistering form they displayed in the second half of last season having won just twice in the league and scored only eight times in six matches.
Of greater concern is their defensive weakness with just one clean sheet in nine outings this season and only two in their last 18 games, which incorporates their scintillating displays which took them to a runners-up place in May.
Rodgers denied, however, he was facing the biggest challenge of his managerial career after expectations were raised following last season's second place.
"No, not really. It's an exciting challenge. This is an incredible job and nothing has changed," he said.
"The first six months were difficult here but for 18 months we've been on a magic carpet ride in terms of our performance level and everything improving.
"For me it would have been a case of keeping the squad we had and adding a few bodies to thicken up the squad.
"But that wasn't the case. There was big change here in the summer and we lost a world-class player (when Suarez was sold to Barcelona).
"We had to improve the squad and bring in a number of players and unfortunately we've lost a number of our key players to injuries.
"It brings us into a little period of transition again.
"We are in a difficult moment but that's the great challenge for myself and the players.
"We will look at it even harder and analyse it more just to ensure we keep it simple and keep to the values and ethics of this team - hard work, honesty and concentrating on our performance."
On Saturday Liverpool host West Brom, who were Rodgers' first opponents when he took over in the summer of 2012.
"There are similarities in that it feels like a new group again," he added.
"I'm not here to whine or complain about injuries. We just need to get on with working hard and go back to core principles which our good performances and wins were all about.
"The job now is similar to then in terms of need to integrate all of that to create winning performances."
Rodgers will wait to see whether Daniel Sturridge is fit enough to be involved.
The striker has missed six matches with a thigh strain and while he is edging closer to full fitness he has been left out of England's 2016 qualifiers due to his lack of action.
Defenders Glen Johnson, Mamadou Sakho (both thigh) and Jon Flanagan (knee) and midfielders Joe Allen (knee) and Emre Can (ankle) are all unavailable.
Meanwhile, Baggies head coach Alan Irvine has warned his side they must be prepared to face Sturridge.
Irvine feels the 25-year-old will be fit enough to play a part as West Brom look to add to the frustration around Anfield.
He told a press conference: "I think he will be close.
"Obviously he wasn't able to go and play for Liverpool, in a very important game in the Champions League, but I think he'll be close.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he turned up on the team-sheet, either starting or as a substitute."
The Baggies are chasing a fourth straight win in all competitions after their 4-0 victory over Burnley on Sunday.
They go to Merseyside a point ahead of a stuttering Liverpool team, who are winless in their last three Barclays Premier League games.
Albion are without strikers Brown Ideye (ankle) and Victor Anichebe (groin) and winger Silvestre Varela (hernia) but Irvine said the Baggies believe in themselves.
"They are a very, very good team, they have got some top players without a doubt," he added.
"It will be extremely difficult to go there and win - but we can and we will go there feeling that we can. We went to Tottenham believing we could win. We really did, we didn't go negatively.
"We went to White Hart Lane with two strikers. If we had gone there believing we couldn't win we would have gone with five midfield players but we went with two strikers.
"I think that was borne out by the way the lads performed. We went into the game against Burnley with a different plan, but with the same kind of belief.
"We will go to Anfield knowing it's a really difficult place to go. But can we win there? Absolutely, of course we can."
Source: PA
