liverpool midfielder joe allen admits it took longer than they expected to turn their season around but he now has every confidence they can make it a success a dreadful start to the campaign saw them slip to 10th, seven points off the minimum requirement of a top four place, in mid december and exit the champions league at the group stage since then, however, they have taken 30 points from their 12 subsequent premier league matches to put themselves firmly in the mix for a top four place and have an fa cup quarter final replay against sky bet championship side blackburn to face next month joe allen (centre) warms up with simon mignolet and lazar markovic (right) last week  allen (left) trains with team mate steven gerrard and right back glen johnson (centre) 'we always knew we'd turn it around but we wondered how long it was going to take it did take longer than we expected, i think,' said wales midfielder allen 'losing luis suarez in the summer (to barcelona) and daniel sturridge being out (injured) for so long as well and the change we had, we always knew there'd be a little bit of a rocky patch but we didn't expect it to go on so long 'we put expectation on ourselves because we think we're good enough to go on runs like this liverpool manager brendan rodgers is trying to tie down a number of his first team stars to longer deals  emre can and kolo toure (right) battle each other as they go for a sprint during training  'with the players we've got, and the confidence we're playing with, i think it's a case of long may it continue' the turnaround came after their champions league failure was followed immediately by a 3 0 defeat at manchester united, their main rival for a top four spot a change in system to a 3 4 2 1 formation has brought the best out of a number of players, particularly 22 year old playmaker philippe coutinho and utility man emre can, who recently turned 21 liverpool goalkeeper mignolet gets down low to his right to stop a ball with his hand in training  liverpool striker rickie lambert strikes one on the volley with his left foot during training  martin skrtel works on his fitness and conditioning with liverpool coach ryland morgans (left) 'people forget sometimes that we're a pretty young team and squad,' allen, who is fit again after a hip problem to face former club swansea this evening, told liverpoolfccom 'the beauty of that is that we will get better we've shown that as the season has gone on 'with this run of games we're going on, we're really looking forward to monday night's game and we'll be setting our stall out to go there and pick up three points 'we've grown massively and i think you can see the change in formation we've taken to that really well and quickly, which is important 'i think we seem to have that edge back, even if we're not playing the most flowing football or things aren't going 100 per cent to plan, we still look like we're going to get the result and i think that speaks volumes about how much everyone has taken things forward' manager brendan rodgers is keen to keep the nucleus of this young side together, and while contract negotiations with raheem sterling and jordan henderson have dragged on for several months now they have just opened talks with the 24 year old allen over a new deal 'we're at the early stages at the moment but the signs are good,' he told bbc wales sport 'from my point of view i'm looking to commit my future here and hopefully i can be here for years to come 'for me it's just a case of playing regularly and putting in consistent performances i've always been confident that i'll be able to be successful here' chelsea  hull (away)   march 22  stoke (home)   april 4  qpr (away)   april 12  man united (home)   april 18  arsenal (away)   april 26  leicester (away)   april 29  crystal palace (home)   may 2  liverpool (home)   may 9  west brom (away)   may 16  sunderland (home)   may 24  manchester city  west brom (home)   march 21  crystal palace (away)   april 6  man united (away)   april 12  west ham (home) april 19  aston villa (home)   april 25  tottenham (away)   may 2  qpr (home)   may 9  swansea (away)   may 16  southampton (home)   may 24  arsenal  newcastle (away)   march 21  liverpool (home)   april 4  burnley (away)   april 11  sunderland (home) april 18 postponed  chelsea (home)   april 26  hull (away)   may 2  swansea (home)   may 9  man united (away)   may 16  west brom (home)   may 24  manchester united  liverpool (away)   march 22  aston villa (home)   april 4  man city (home)   april 12  chelsea (away)   april 18  everton (away)   april 26  west brom (home)   may 2  crystal palace (away)   may 9  arsenal (home)   may 16  hull (away)   may 24  liverpool  swansea (away)   march 16  man united (home)   march 22  arsenal (away)   april 4  newcastle (home)   april 13  hull (away)   april 18  west brom (away)   april 25  qpr (home)   may 2  chelsea (away)   may 9  crystal palace (home)   may 16  stoke (away)   may 24  tottenham  leicester (home)   march 21  burnley (away)   april 5  aston villa (home)   april 11  newcastle (away)   april 19  southampton (away)   april 25  manchester city (home)   may 2  stoke (away)   may 9  hull (home)   may 16  everton (away)   may 24  southampton  burnley (home)   march 21  everton (away)   april 4  hull (home)   april 11  stoke (away)   april 18  tottenham (home)   april 25  sunderland (away)   may 2  leicester (away)   may 9  aston villa (home)   may 16  man city (away)   may 24  note: fixtures in may subject to change for television schedule for a full list of premier league fixtures and to check kick off times, results and league tables, visit our brilliant match zone by clicking here games marked 'postponed' will be rearranged due to the fa cup
joe allen monday fifth brendan rodgers liverpool swansea
liverpool have taken 30 points from last 12 games to climb to fifth in table  liverpool travel to swansea on monday looking to continue top four push  joe allen reveals he has opened talks with club over extending contract  brendan rodgers: liverpool need 23 more points for top four spot  click here for all the latest liverpool news 