The Anfield outfit face a competitive fixture list in the coming months, but the Northern Irish manager is confident his side will still be in the title race come January

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has urged his players to “step up” and prove their Premier League title credentials by continuing their strong early season form despite a challenging fixture list.

The Merseyside club, second in the table, face a testing schedule between now and the end of the year, with away games against Arsenal, Everton, Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea all on the horizon.

The 40-year-old refuses to be daunted by the challenges awaiting his side, and is hoping the Reds can draw on their victory over reigning champions Manchester United in the coming months.

“We have a really tough schedule coming up and we are not getting carried away – we know when you have the big squads, you have an advantage,” Rodgers told reporters.

“But these are the big games and the top players step up to them. For us, we’re happy and excited about what we can achieve. In a lot of those games last year, we played really well, but didn’t get always get the results.

“The idea this year is to look to move up a notch and see if we can get the wins this time, as we did last month in the game against Manchester United.”

Rodgers believes his side did not always get the results their performances deserved against the Premier League’s top sides last season, and he is eager to put that right this term as he aims to still be in contention for the title come January.

“Absolutely, that’s the point, to get the results this time around that we deserved against the big teams last season,” the Liverpool boss continued.

“That’s the aim this season. The plan is to get through to January and, as long as we are in contention, we can take a look at it again and kick on.

“With the ideas we have, and the way we are beginning to implement them, we can keep improving.

“You saw us do that strongly in the second half of last season, and I have every confidence we can do that again.

“It’s true that if we can start turning those performances against the top sides into points, then we can be in ­contention for the top four.”