AFP, Bournemouth :
Brendan Rodgers believes Liverpool’s ruthless FA Cup victory at Bournemouth demonstrates how far his side have come since last season’s shock exit at the hands of League One minnows Oldham.
Rodgers’ team claimed a place in the fifth round after safely negotiating a testing trip, eventually overcoming Eddie Howe’s battling Championship side 2-0 thanks to goals from Victor Moses and Daniel Sturridge on Saturday.
It was a far cry from the tame performance Liverpool produced in their loss to Oldham at the same stage of the competition 12 months ago.
And Reds manager Rodgers believes the comparison between his side’s cup campaign this year and last term highlights the improvement amongst his squad.
“There have been lots of games recently that take me back to a year ago and there are games we might have lost a year ago,” Rodgers said.
“We are really improving not only in our football idea but also the character within the team. So we are showing a lot of good traits and the way we stepped up the tempo in the second half was very important.” Rodgers fielded a strong side even though they face a crucial Merseyside derby against Everton in midweek and he believes the win justified his gamble.
“We have a very thin squad and we have had injuries,” Rodgers added. “But the tradition of the FA cup at Liverpool is huge and we want to pay respect to that and to the competition because we want to get to the final and win it if we can. “So the players are fit enough, there is enough recovery time. They have everything to recover and we go into Tuesday’s game on the back of a good win.”
Reds centre-back Martin Skrtel suffered a badly cut head but should be fit to face Everton.
