Intro:

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers (31st December) talked on Wednesday (31st December) about the New Year's Day English Premier League fixture at home to Leicester City.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool manager (looking back over 2014):

"Well, I think as a year, it's been another year of progress. I know, probably since the beginning of the season it hasn't been as good as we want. But we've really, over the course of 2014, made significant strides forward in terms of what we're trying to do here at the club. We've been consistently a team that's playing well and performing. If you look at the points over the course of this year there's only two teams that's above us. Manchester City and Chelsea are both on 88 points over the course of this calendar year, and we're third in behind them (Liverpool have 76). Despite maybe what the start has been to this season, those early number of months, we've actually made good progress, so I have been pleased, but we've still got a lot of work to do."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool manager (talking about Leicester City):

"Leicester will be a tough game for us. They had a great result away at Hull which will give them big confidence going away from home. Very resilient and we know it will be a tough game."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool manager:

"Leicester will come and want to make it difficult for us. The space will be condensed a little bit more. So again, maybe there's that patience, but what important for us is the speed of our game. It's a period as well where..... it's a tiring period for players and obviously when you have the ball and when you are looking to create and dominate the game, then you're having to be physically right. But the players put in a great effort the other night. The intensity of which they worked, they'll recover well and we'll be ready for the game tomorrow. As I said, we want to continue this little spell we're in and come through a period of games all very much close together with maximum points and if we can do that, it'll be a great Christmas for us."