Brendan Rodgers urges Liverpool players to bounce back from Manchester United defeat

Brendan Rodgers has urged his Liverpool players to react to their disappointing 2-1 defeat against Manchester United on Sunday 22 March in the same way they did following the loss at Old Trafford in December.

The Merseysiders responded to the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United stadium in December with an impressive streak of 10 victories and three draws in the following 13 Premier League games, arriving to the Sunday encounter with Louis van Gaal's side in the fifth place, just 1 point behind their big rivals.

The Reds impressive unbeaten run come to an end against United after a brace from Juan Mata condemned them to a defeat which leaves the Merseysiders four points away their Champions League target.

Rodgers, however, believes his side can still reach the Premier League top slots if they manage to replicate their recent momentum in the final eight games of the campaign.

"That was the message to the players," Rodgers said.

"That last performance at Old Trafford was a great springboard for us. We went on and, up until this point [against United] we hadn't lost a league game."

Following the international break Liverpool still have to visit Arsenal, who have won their last six games.

"We must use this in the same way; refocus, get over the disappointment and then come back into a tough game next against Arsenal and really look to get the points there," said Rodgers.

"We had a 10-game objective that we set. Built into that was that we were not going to win every single game. It's still very much [possible] for us to go where we want to go, which is the top four. We just need to fight that bit harder and make up a five-point difference."