Daniel Agger believes Liverpool's players have to take greater responsibility for goalscoring and not rely on a couple of individuals after a return of only two goals from three league games.

The side's options up front have been stretched by the failure to find a replacement for Andy Carroll, who was loaned to West Ham 24 hours before the closure of the transfer window. That has put additional pressure on Luis Suárez and summer signing Fabio Borini, the only recognised strikers in Brendan Rodgers's squad.

Rodgers has said he expects players in other positions to chip in and Agger agrees. "Of course the lack of goals so far is a concern. You could see against Arsenal [during Sunday's 2-0 defeat] that it wasn't only one player," the defender said. "It wasn't two players, it was three, four, five, six players who had chances, including myself. The chances are there and that's the most important thing, but we all need to start taking them."

Despite the club's worst start to a league season since 1962, Agger is confident there is enough talent in the squad to turn things around and make Rodgers's first season in charge a success.

"I'm still upbeat about the quality in the group," he told the Liverpool Echo. "Everybody has to believe in it, otherwise they shouldn't be at a club like this. Nothing is easy to fix – not in football and not in life – but we are working on the manager's ideas every single day, so hopefully we can get better and better during the course of the season. We are trying everything we can."

Agger's fellow defender Glen Johnson accepts the senior players have to step up and show leadership to the less experienced members of the squad. Raheem Sterling has been the real bright spot so far and Johnson said the teenager has to be given the right support from his team-mates in order to be able to flourish.

"We've got a great bunch of lads and everyone makes everyone feel welcome," Johnson said. "Raheem is 17 years old but you make him feel like one of the lads because he is and he deserves to be here. It makes him feel more comfortable – and more comfortable when he's going into games, which is going to help him and the team.

"You have to encourage the young lads. When I first came through, I had people like Stuart Pearce and other big players helping me. Raheem is a fantastic player as it is, so if he keeps working hard and doing the right things, he's going to be a great player."