The Denmark defender played the first half of Liverpool’s 2-1 pre-season defeat to Brondby and the Reds boss insists he is one of the club’s finest players

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is adamant that centre-back Daniel Agger remains in his first-team thoughts.

Agger struggled for consistent game time at Liverpool last season, making just 16 Premier League starts, and has been heavily linked with a move away from Merseyside.

Mamadou Sakho ended the season as Rodgers’ favoured partner alongside Martin Skrtel as Liverpool went within two points of winning a first league title in the Premier League era.

Agger has since claimed he will not be happy playing second fiddle again this term, while Rodgers’ pursuit of Southampton’s Dejan Lovren has only fuelled speculation that the Dane’s future lies elsewhere.

But speaking after Liverpool suffered a 2-1 pre-season loss to Agger’s former club Brondby on Wednesday, Rodgers labelled the 29-year-old one of his top performers.

“Agger is one of the best players we have. He has been unlucky because he has been plagued by injuries last season,” the 41-year-old manager told reporters.

“He is a good player, he is experienced and we can use that in the upcoming season.”

The Denmark international played the first half of Liverpool’s opening friendly of pre-season at Brondby Stadion and Rodgers was enthused by his performance.

“Daniel has signed a contract with us [which expires in June 2016] and he showed in the first half what an excellent player he is,” Rodgers said.

The Reds finished the 2013-14 season in second place, two points behind Manchester City, and the Anfield boss is hopeful that they can go one step better this time around

Brendan Rodgers insists belief is high within the Liverpool squad, as the Reds attempt to build on their last campaign coming in to 2014-15.

Liverpool fell agonisingly short of claiming their first league title since 1989-90 last season, finishing two points adrift of Manchester City in second spot.

Rodgers has wasted little time adding reinforcements ahead of Liverpool’s return to the Champions League, with Southampton pair Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana joining the club, along with Bayer Leverkusen’s Emre Can and Serbia international Lazar Markovic.

However, Liverpool’s signings have been overshadowed by the departure of talisman Luiz Suarez, who left for Spanish giants Barcelona after the World Cup.

Nevertheless, Rodgers remains confident his team can continue to develop and lift the Premier League trophy.

“We’ll go and do our best,” Rodgers told Liverpool’s official website following Wednesday’s 2-1 pre-season loss to Brondby in Denmark. “Our best last year nearly won us the title.

“This year, we know it’s going to be extremely competitive. Every team will strengthen and we’ll be exactly the same. But the beauty for us is that we’re a young group and we’re bringing in young players that are hungry.

“We will progress again from last season. It’s going to be a really exciting season. I’ve seen development in the players already in the short period of time that we’ve been back. This season we have the belief to go along with the quality.

“We want to improve and continually improve. We’re working very hard behind the scenes, as we always do, in terms of getting the best quality players into the club.

“It’s looking at the players that can come in and add the goals and add to our game. That’s something that we will always look to continue to do at the club.”

Liverpool kick off their league campaign against Southampton at Anfield on August 17.

The talismanic Uruguayan has swapped Anfield for Barcelona in a deal worth around £70m, but the Reds boss believes his side will still be in the title reckoning

Brendan Rodgers insists Liverpool will challenge for the Premier League next season despite the sale of Luis Suarez.

The Reds confirmed on Friday that they had reached an agreement for the sale of the controversial Uruguayan, after accepting an offer believed to be in the region of €88 million. 

Rodgers has already taken steps to rebalance his squad following the departure of the PFA and FWA Player of the Year, splashing out over €60m to bring Southampton duo Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert, Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Emre Can and Benfica winger Lazar Markovic to Anfield.

Preparations for the new season got off to a sluggish start with a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Brondby on Wednesday but Rodgers remains adamant his side will be in the title reckoning once again.

“The sale of Suarez does not lessen our ambition,” he told reporters after the Brondby defeat. “We thank Luis for his contribution here but we move on, looking for the right players.

“We’ll go and do our best. Our best last year nearly won us the title.

“This year, we know it’s going to be extremely competitive. Every team will strengthen and we’ll be exactly the same. But the beauty for us is that we’re a young group and we’re bringing in young players that are hungry.

“We will progress again from last season. It’s going to be a really exciting season. I’ve seen development in the players already in the short period of time that we’ve been back.

“This season we have the belief to go along with the quality.

“We want to improve and continually improve. We’re working very hard behind the scenes, as we always do, in terms of getting the best quality players into the club.”