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Philippe Coutinho has urged Liverpool to keep faith with manager Brendan Rodgers as he insisted: “He’s the right man to take this club forward.”

The Brazilian midfielder, who swept the board at this week’s Liverpool FC Player Awards, says he has Rodgers to thank for producing the best form of his career.

Coutinho admits as a team Liverpool have fallen short of the targets they set at the start of the campaign with no Champions League qualification and no silverware to show for their efforts.

However, the 22-year-old says Rodgers will ensure that the Reds kick on next term.

“I have always believed in and trusted in this manager and that remains the case,” Coutinho told the ECHO.

“I know how hard he works to lead Liverpool Football Club. I see what he does inside the club. He’s an excellent coach.

GALLERY: Red carpet at Liverpool Players Awards

“I am very grateful to him. I wasn’t playing much at my previous club but Brendan brought me here and gave me the chance to show what I can do.

“He has helped me improve as a player and I’ve learned a lot from working with him.

“I am sure he’s the right person to carry us forward. I’ll be very happy to continue playing for Brendan and I want us to win trophies together from next season onwards. I’m sure next season will be better.”

We can't afford to start next season as slowly as this year

Coutinho believes the squad will benefit from the experiences of this season, which saw Liverpool recover from a dismal start to launch a spirited revival prior to their struggles over the past two months,

“We have a very young group here,” he said.

“For a lot of the players this was their first season in the Premier League.

“Last season a lot of new players joined the club and I know myself that it’s not easy moving to a new country.

“It took time for everyone to get used to each other this season. But we worked hard and then around the halfway point of the season things started to look up.

“We performed well and went on a good run. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to keep that going.

“I’m sure the squad will be strengthened this summer and then the key will be to have a good pre-season. We can’t afford to start next season as slowly as we did this season. The Champions League is where we all want to be and we’ll try to achieve that next season.”

Coutinho provided one of the few positives for Liverpool this term with his eight-goal haul and eye-catching talent securing him a place in the PFA Team of the Year.

It's been my best season on a personal level

At this week’s club awards night he was crowned Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year. He also won Goal of the Year for his strike against Southampton and Performance of the Year in recognition of his match-winning display against Manchester City.

Team-mate Raheem Sterling may be trying to force a move away from Anfield but Coutinho, who penned a new long-term deal back in January, is going nowhere.

“The awards were a huge surprise for me, I didn’t expect it at all,” Coutinho said.

“It was a very special evening for me. But I don’t like to talk about myself a lot.

“It’s a team game and I would rather pick up trophies for the team than for myself.

“I didn’t have injuries so I was able to play many matches this season. I do consider it as the best I’ve had on a personal level.

“But I’m still only 22 and there is still a lot of room for improvement. Every season I want to improve and get better.

“I’m very happy here. I want to score and create more goals and do more for Liverpool.”

The Reds go into Sunday’s final game of the season at Stoke City needing victory to guarantee a fifth-placed finish. Fail to win and they could end up as low as seventh if Tottenham and Southampton clinch maximum points.

Coutinho says Rodgers’ men have a duty to produce a response in what will be Steven Gerrard’s final appearance for the club.

“It’s still a very important game for us,” he said.

“We need to win to ensure we finish fifth and we want to go out on a high, especially with it being Stevie’s last game.

“We know we didn’t perform well enough against Crystal Palace last weekend. We need to play better and win as a thank-you to our supporters. They have been with us throughout the season and we must get the three points for them.”