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Brendan Rodgers has challenged his Liverpool FC players to raise the bar ahead of tonight’s clash with Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.

The Reds have made their best start to a Premier League season for 19 years but the Anfield boss insists there are significant improvements which still need to be made.

Rodgers believes his side have only shown “flashes” of their true potential in the three successive 1-0 wins to date and wants to see a more complete performance in South Wales.

“It’s still very early in the season and I know we can get better,” Rodgers told the ECHO.

“In all the games so far we’ve seen flashes of the progress in the team. We played some great football against Stoke and created many chances which we didn’t take.

“At Aston Villa we started brightly and had great control, but in the second half we could have been better on the counter attack and that’s something we’ve been working on.

“The Man United game was more about the result. Performance-wise we started well but in the second half we dropped too deep.

“It’s not a plan to do that, it’s just something that sometimes happens within a game. We’ve been working to ensure that in those moments, when you are under pressure and don’t always have the ball, that you can cope with that and still be a real threat.”

Liverpool boast the top flight’s only 100% record and they will reclaim top spot if they avoid defeat against Michael Laudrup’s men.

A winning streak fuels expectation levels but Rodgers says the Reds are focused solely on the challenge facing them against his former club tonight.

“No-one is getting carried away here,” he said.

“We see this season as a race. It’s like a 110m hurdles race and we have many hurdles in front of us. We have jumped the first three hurdles but that counts for nothing now. We have to approach the next hurdle which is Swansea with the same mentality, passion and drive. It will be a difficult game.

“It’s all about the next game and trying to keep accumulating points. That’s what we’ve done throughout which has seen us go on this run dating back to January.

“We will take a look at it after 10 games this season and see how the league shapes up. Then we’ll see where we are at the halfway point knowing that come the second half of the season we will be stronger.

“I said that last year that we would be stronger in the second half of the season and it will be the same this time. We will get better and better.”

Striker Daniel Sturridge is expected to recover from a thigh problem to start but Rodgers will be forced to make a change defensively due to Glen Johnson’s ankle injury.

If Kolo Toure (groin) is passed fit then the Northern Irishman will choose between the experienced Ivorian and Andre Wisdom for the vacant right-back spot.

“Glen will be missed but we have got players capable of filling in,” Rodgers said.

“Young Andre played there for a number of games last season and did very well.

“Martin Kelly is working well in training but isn’t quite ready yet and still needs a few more games.

“Kolo could play there. I don’t think he would want to do it over the long term but he’s an option.

“That’s the idea of bringing in players like Kolo who are flexible and can play in a number of different positions. It means you can have a smaller squad, knowing the flexibility is there.”

On-loan forward Victor Moses could make his debut but fellow new boys Mamadou Sakho and Tiago Ilori may have to wait for their first taste of action.

Rodgers is likely to keep faith with centre-backs Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel who performed so well against Manchester United a fortnight ago.

Liverpool have yet to concede a league goal this term and the manager says if standards are maintained then Sakho and Ilori will have to be patient.

“It’s not a dilemma for me. If the team is doing well and the team is winning then you keep your shirt,” Rodgers said.

“We felt we already had some excellent centre-halves here – Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel, Kolo Toure and Sebastian Coates, who is currently injured.

“But not only do we need to think about the present, but also the future. With centre-halves, there aren’t many really good ones around.

“We’d had our eye on Sakho for a while. I was speaking to Gerard Houllier about him in London last week and he also rates him very highly.

“Now it’s about him getting up to speed with training and this way of working. He hadn’t done a great deal prior to coming in but he has worked hard over the past two weeks.

“We believe Ilori could end up being a top centre-half.

“He needs some development and he needs to adapt to the British game, but he’s 6ft3ins, super quick, comfortable on the ball and powerful in the air. Once he adapts to the intensity and physicality of this league he’s one who can be a really outstanding player.

“Sakho and Ilori both became available and it was about making sure we had really good back-up. You never know what’s going to happen in football.

Daniel Agger, until last year, had had a lot of injuries which had kept him out for parts of seasons.

“The centre-backs who were already here now know they have got serious competition.

“That makes you better and that makes you fight for your place.

“The boys have made a brilliant start to the season and there is real belief and confidence in the team. Everybody is determined to keep his good run going.”