liverpool manager brendan rodgers is confident fatigue will not hamper their bid for a top four place despite an arduous season so far european commitments and a run to the semi final of the capital one cup, in addition to their continued involvement in the fa cup, means the reds have played 46 matches this season that is already three more than in the whole of the previous campaign, which saw them fall agonisingly short of winning the premier league liverpool manager brendan rodgers (right) in talks with emre can during training  rodgers shares a laugh with ivory coast defender kolo toure (left) during the session  martin skrtel works on his fitness and conditioning with liverpool coach ryland morgans (left) liverpool pair lazar markovic (left) and dejan lovren strike a pose during the training esssion  such a toll manifested itself in a sluggish performance last weekend in a goalless fa cup quarter final at home to blackburn   their third match in six days including an early morning return from turkey however, with an eight day break, during which the players were given some much needed time off, rodgers believes they will be firing on all cylinders on his return to former club swansea on monday 'our last performance against blackburn was at the end of a real tough period of games,' said the manager '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 'it's that period of the season where you taper your training you don't need to be as long in your training and preparation as the players have got a real good level of fitness, so it's more explosive and more intensive, but in shorter blocks '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 captain steven gerrard is back in contention for the trip to swansea after an injury layoff  slovakian central defender skrtel jumps to power a header in during the session at melwood  vice captain jordan henderson in action alongside skrtel (right) during a training drill  captain gerrard trains ahead of team mates joe allen (left) and right back glen johnson (centre) liverpool are the form team of 2015, having not lost in the league since mid december, when they were 10th and seven points off fourth, in a run which has seen them take 30 points from a possible 36 they are now only seven points off second place but rodgers knows with manchester united   whom they play next weekend   to catch and tottenham and southampton chasing them there is still plenty of work to do 'i think it's going to be very tight, of course,' he said 'we've rejoined the race for that in the last three months and everything counts in the games 'we just need to ensure we continue to be aggressive in our game and give everything that we have between now and the end of the season liverpool midfielder adam lallana (left) vies for possession with left back jose enrique  liverpool striker rickie lambert strikes one on the volley with his left foot during training  reds belgian goalkeeper simon mignolet gets down low to his right to stop the ball with his hand  liverpool left back alberto moreno all smiles during saturday's session at melwood  'the points total is all very close and very tight but we just have to continue playing and working as hard as we have done 'if you're a team that wants to do well, you have to be able to have that character, resolve and mentality to win away from home 'we've got great counter attack speed when the space does open up and we've got technically gifted players who can play in the spaces we're in a good moment, but we respect it'll be a very difficult game at swansea'
crunching premier league overconsuming carex midforenoon brendan rodgers reposal
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