The 40-year-old believes the Reds need to press ahead with recruiting players at the end of the season, citing the need to avoid the problems that hurt the side in the past

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has stated that the club need to focus on adding new players to the squad in the summer and learn from their past mistakes in the transfer market.

The 40-year-old spoke of “operational issues” after the club left themselves with just one fit senior striker by the close of the window in the summer in the form of Luis Suarez after loaning Andy Carroll to West Ham without having a guaranteed replacement lined up.

They moved to rectify that error and bolster their attacking line during January by bringing in Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea and Inter playmaker Philippe Coutinho, with Rodgers admitting that the scars of the Carroll debacle need to avoided at all costs in the future.

“We would have liked to bring in a few more players in the summer but we didn’t,” Rodgers told Yahoo.

“The group were admirable with what they coped in that period because we had a lot of games. We knew we had to bring in reinforcements in January and the board worked superbly to get those players.

“We are hopeful that come the summer we can make more additions that will take us on to the next level.

“So there was no vindication really, just that Andy [Carroll] wanted to play games every week and at the time there wasn’t the availability to bring in a replacement.

“The business we did in January however was excellent and that’s a great credit to the club.”

With the club still maintaining an outside chance of pushing for a top-four place this season, Rodgers believes the way Coutinho and Sturridge have settled has provided a boost to the entire squad.

He added: “He [Sturridge] has settled in very well, but he still has lots of aspects of his game to work on in order to achieve what he wants to and to allow him to make the kind of impact that we want.

“He has made a very promising start and as long as he maintains that same level of commitment and responsible attitude to improving, I can see him being a great signing for the club.

“[Coutinho] might be slight in stature but he’s still got real power and mental strength too, plus he’s a wonderful technician.”

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