The Reds boss expects his side to improve on last season’s campaign and says that, after offloading a number of players, he has found the right balance at Anfield

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believes the Reds are ready to challenge for a Champions League place this season.

The Northern Irishman says that the club now have the right type of players who can help them to finish in the top four and expects an improvement from his team in 2013-14.

“We can get into the Champions League with players who are hungry – players who have that hunger to succeed,” he told The Anfield Wrap.

“With the right profile of player and the right level of coaching we can achieve that. We all want stars but the most important thing is you want players who are hungry to become stars.

“That’s what we have at the club now – players who are hungry. If we bring them in with a certain profile I think we’ve shown we are able to compete – and I would expect us to make a much better fist of competing for a top-four place this year.

“I hope we can make a big push this year. Playing in Europe is what this club is all about, it is what the history of this club is built on, and that is the aim.”

Rodgers also feels that the Reds have moved on from last season and have offloaded players who were holding the team back.

“I’ve seen a change – we’ve tried to grow the club in the last year and make sure we’ve got a real base to build on,” he added. “There was a much bigger job last year in terms of trying to get the balance within the squad right. We had players who needed to move on, really.

“We had big wage earners within the football club who weren’t contributing and we knew we had to move them on and find the right profile of player – and that’s what we have now.”