The German put the Reds ahead at Anfield with a strike that deflected off Gary Cahill and despite the Blues’ eventual victory, his manager praised his performance

Brendan Rodgers believes there is much more to come from Emre Can after the midfielder impressed in Liverpool’s defeat to Chelsea.

Rodgers’ men were briefly on course for victory over the Premier League leaders at Anfield on Saturday when Can opened the scoring with a deflected shot from 25 yards.

Chelsea duly hit back with goals from Gary Cahill and Diego Costa, leaving their opponents 15 points off the summit after just 11 games.

However, the performance of Can, whose goal was his first for Liverpool since arriving from Bayer Leverkusen in the close season, at least provided one positive for manager Rodgers.

“I thought he did very well,” the Liverpool boss told reporters. “The plan was to play Emre because of the physicality of Chelsea, they’re a big team with physical presence.

“Emre’s coming back to fitness, he’s been out for a little bit of time and he’s getting the game time and doing very well. I thought he looked strong, took his goal very well.

“[He is] a young player who’s getting to grips with the Barclays Premier League, and he’s looking very good in training and in the games.”