Liverpool lacking confidence, says manager Brendan Rodgers

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers says his side are going through a difficult spell after losing 2-1 to Chelsea.

The Reds went in front against the Premier League leaders through Emre Can but goals from Gary Cahill and Diego Costa consigned the Reds to a third successive loss.

"It'll turn for us but it is a difficult moment," said Rodgers.

"The players are giving everything but as you would expect when you are not winning the confidence is a bit low."

He added: "We haven't scored anywhere near the goals that we would like or that we have in the last couple of years."

The Anfield side finished as runners up to Manchester City last season but they currently trail Chelsea by 15 points with just 11 matches played.

The eighth-placed Reds have lost five league games this season, just one less than they lost in the whole of 2013-14.

Rodgers on his side being refused a penalty after Gary Cahill appeared to handle the ball

"It's a big decision in a big game that we didn't get. I wasn't even in doubt.

"My players gave everything. They deserved something from it and if we weren't going to get it in open play, then certainly we should have had it from the penalty spot, so we're disappointed we didn't get that.

"But that's where we are at, at the moment. We're not getting the rub of the green and it's been a tough week in terms of results. These players are so committed and they are giving everything, but we're not getting that bit of good fortune that you need."

Rodgers on selection

Mario Balotelli started for Liverpool in one of seven changes from the weakened side that lost 1-0 to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday

"The players understood where they were at.

"We had a decent performance in the week. The players coming into the game knew exactly what we were looking at. Whenever you lose a game, it will always go against you.

"We were playing a gameplan today, which was to look to keep Cesc Fabregas quiet because he's a big player for them. For that, we had Jordan Henderson in a marking role and he did it very well.

"The influence from Fabregas in the game was limited. We needed him [Henderson] for that energy to do that over the course of the 90 minutes.

"The changes raised a lot of criticism in the week, which I can take - there's no issue with that."

Rodgers on substitutions

Emre Can scored his first Premier League goal for the Reds and his substitution brought boos from the Anfield crowd

"We just needed to try something else to create something in the game.

"We put an extra striker through the middle to try and give us more of a threat and occupy their back four who were strong through the game.

"We wanted to change the momentum of the game. Sometimes it works for you and sometimes it doesn't."

Rodgers on return of Daniel Sturridge

Daniel Sturridge has not played for Liverpool since the 3-0 win at Spurs on 31 August because of injury

"We hope so - it has been a long time. We're hoping that he can now get to work. He hasn't trained with the team at all during that time.

"But he has just gone onto the grass with the rehab team. Hopefully, over the course of the next couple of weeks, he can be out there training with the squad and we can have him back. It will be important because he makes a big impact for us."