The Anfield boss believes his debut term in charge of the Reds has put him in good stead to challenge for a Champions League qualification place next season

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believes his side will continue to progress next season after a promising finish to the current campaign.

The Northern Irishman feels a year’s worth of experience in the Anfield hotseat as proved a steep learning curve, one which should ensure his side continue to go from strength to strength next term.

Rodgers is now targeting qualification for the Champions League as the Reds’ next goal in the Premier League.

“This year has provided a great learning curve for me and I look back and see that it was learning that I needed,” he told the Liverpool Echo.

“I knew the expectancy of the club but going into next season, I am a much better prepared manager for that.

“We want to make significant improvements next year in the points total because the reality is we are 30 points behind the leaders and 11 points behind the top four.

“But I’ve seen enough and if we improve our mentality in the summer – by signing players who have that consistent winning mentality – we can then improve again, like we have done in the second half of the season.

“That’s the job of the recruitment team and the club to identify those types of players.  They might not always be the best players but what we need in the second year of this project is to find a great level of consistency.  There is a process of getting into the top four and becoming champions and that is consistency.”

Rodgers did not enjoy the best start to his Anfield tenure – winning two of his opening nine Premier League outings – but Liverpool’s from have picked up of late with just one defeat in their last 10 games.

“This club didn’t win two league games in a row for over a year,” he continued. That came earlier on in the season and when you step back and look at that, it is nowhere near good enough if you are going to succeed.

“You build a mentality in your group and you get the types of players who can be on it every single game. I’ve loved every minute of being here and the small steps of where we want to go.  But now I want to make bigger steps.”