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Brendan Rodgers has told his Liverpool FC players to ignore their critics and toughen up ahead of tomorrow night’s “high stakes” Champions League showdown with Ludogorets.

The Reds boss is set to ring the changes in the wake of Sunday’s league defeat to Crystal Palace with Kolo Toure and Lucas Leiva both expected to earn starts.

Rodgers’ men have come in for some stinging criticism on the back of a wretched run of four straight defeats with Kop legend Jamie Carragher branding them “mentally and physically weak”.

The Northern Irishman is adamant his squad possess sufficient quality and character to stop the rot and he expects them to show it against the Bulgarian champions.

“It’s a comment that was made and people will assess the team when you lose games,” Rodgers said.

“What I’ve learned is that people will say what they want and that’s what comes. However, the criticism comes, whether it is deserved or not, you won’t like it as a player. But you just have to ignore it, not listen to it.

“We have got resilience. Okay, we will sometimes concede more than we would like but I don’t think you can doubt the characterisation of this team. It can’t be criticised. We have got players here who have shown they have got courage and spirit.

“I’ve got a team full of characters, a team of courageous players, a team that is very committed, but is just low on confidence. That is something that we hope will improve.

“Whatever line of work you are in, if you don’t do it with confidence, you won’t do it quite as well as you would like. The job is to restore the confidence of the team and get results.”

Rodgers has always insisted the damage done so far this season is repairable as their targets remain achievable - but that won’t be the case if Liverpool slip up again in Sofia.

Victory would guarantee them European football after Christmas and would also keep qualification for the knockout stages in their own hands ahead of their final Group B game with Basel at Anfield.

Anything less than maximum points could see them dumped out of the competition depending on the outcome of Basel’s home clash with leaders Real Madrid.

Having waited five years to return to Europe’s elite, being eliminated at such an early stage would be a devastating setback for the five-times winners.

“It does raise the stakes because we want to qualify - that has always been the aim from the outset,” Rodgers said.

“We always felt this game and the Basel game would always be the critical ones, and nothing has changed for us.

“If we want to qualify for the knockout stages – which was the objective at beginning of the season – then this is a critical game for us with the stakes high of course.

“Obviously whenever you haven’t been on a great run it can be even more important. but we’ll embrace that. We have to go and stand up and show that we can get a result and tough it out, and that’s what we will definitely do.”

Toure, who hasn’t featured since his gutsy performance in the Bernabeu, is likely to replace the struggling Dejan Lovren.

Lucas’ inclusion in the midfield holding role is likely to see Steven Gerrard played further forward in a 4-1-4-1 formation.

Mario Balotelli (groin) and Mamadou Sakho (thigh) didn’t travel but vice-captain Jordan Henderson could return after missing the Palace defeat due to a virus.

Asked whether he would move Gerrard from a deep-lying position in order to help trigger a change in the Reds’ fortunes, Rodgers said: “It is something I am looking at.

“We are looking at all the players and we are trying to find a structure.

“We can’t underestimate the loss of the players that we have had. I don’t want to keep going on about it but I have to defend the group. We are missing two world class players (in Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge).

“You throw into that young Raheem (Sterling) and (Philippe) Coutinho… we had a real quartet there. They were a dynamic force.

“But you take two world class players out of that – you take it out of any team – and it is going to have an affect.”

Liverpool have suffered nine defeats in all competitions already this season and are currently enduring the club’s worst run for five years.

However, Rodgers, who retains the unswerving support of owners Fenway Sports Group, has no doubts that he will arrest the Reds’ decline.

And he believes in the long-term both he and Liverpool will benefit from his period.

“If we didn’t feel that we could turn it around, we may as well just pack up and go home,” Rodgers said.

“We all work tirelessly at our jobs. I am a better manager than I was 12 months ago because of all the experiences. The players are working so hard and are fully committed.

“But of course we need to improve, we need to be better. It’s one of the traits you need to have in top level sport – you need to have persistence, you need to have resilience.

“That persistence gets you through. Losing can be the making of you. You find out a lot about players. You find out about people off the field.

“When the tide turns, which it will do, we will be in a better place to move on.”

Ludogorets, who play their European games 330km away from their Razgrad home due to their ground’s failure to satisfy UEFA regulations, will be no pushovers at Sofia’s Vasil Levski Stadium.

Georgi Dermendzhiev’s side were unfortunate to lose 2-1 at Anfield back in September when Gerrard netted a stoppage-time winner from the penalty spot.

In their two previous home matches in the group Ludogorets lost 2-1 to Real Madrid and beat Basel 1-0. They sit second in their league after coming from behind to draw 1-1 with leaders CSKA Sofia on Saturday.

Rodgers isn’t expecting a classic and admits he’s currently more concerned about points than the style he has always prided himself on.

“I think that has been the case now for a number of weeks,” he added.

“The philosophy is important and how we want to work but you need to get results.

“We would take a scrappy win. Listen, you can’t play perfect football. It won’t be easy here but we want that result to restore confidence levels.”