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Brendan Rodgers has vowed not to make the same mistakes as last season and field strong sides in the cup competitions.

Liverpool FC face League One side Notts County in the second round of the Capital One Cup tonight with Rodgers hoping victory kicks-off a run to Wembley.

Liverpool were eliminated from the competition at the fourth round stage last season when an inexperienced team were beaten 3-1 at home to Swansea City.

Rodgers admits he was wrong to tinker with selection so much for the tie – and says he will not be making the same amount of changes this time around.

Liverpool only had two Premier League wins to their name by the time the visit of Swansea came around last October and Rodgers makes no apologies for prioritising their league concerns over the cup.

And in his first season in charge at Anfield, Rodgers was also trying to guide a small squad through the group stages of the Europa League.

But with a better quality at his disposal and no European commitments this campaign, the Reds manager is ready to place greater importance on a run in the Capital One Cup.

And even though the visit of Manchester United awaits this weekend, Rodgers insists his focus is purely on Notts County and making it through to the third round.

“It’s very much at the forefront of our minds to go for silverware,” Rodgers said. “I made some mistakes last season in terms of changing the team.

“I think the group is more prepared in every way than what we were last year. I think for us, cup competitions are important as well as the league and we will give it absolutely everything to get as far as we can.

“The league is number one priority but this is a club based around cup competitions and trophies.

“We feel we are better equipped and we will give it everything we can to go as far as we can.”

He added: “We will treat Notts County with the same respect as Manchester United. We want to do well in the cup competitions this year. For us we will always respect whatever opponent we play no matter what division they are in.

“Our focus is on ourselves to get the job done and get in the next round.

“Managers tend to utilise squad in these games but it will be an opportunity for some players to get a game who maybe have not featured. The core of our team will be there, if there is an opportunity to recover one or two players who have niggles we look at that but we will have a strong side out.”

Daniel Sturridge and Steven Gerrard are likely to be rested with Rodgers ready to hand Luis Alberto his full Liverpool debut. Raheem Sterling and Jordon Ibe will be considered for the tie with Iago Aspas in position to lead the line at Anfield tonight.

Defender Martin Skrtel is not yet fit enough to return, says Rodgers, though Andre Wisdom could earn a recall.

But the Liverpool manager insists there will be no wholesale changes from the side that defeated Aston Villa on Saturday night as he looks to avoid a repeat of the defeat of their early Cup exits from last season.

“You can never forecast what the other team will do,” Rodgers added.

“Swansea had a full strength side out last season and we didn’t. They went on and won it. It was one just at that moment, it was difficult for us with the league and European games. I always try to put the objective towards the league but there are lessons learned from that. Hopefully we will be much better this time. We don’t want to make any excuses for last year but certainly those early games (in Europe) impacted that because we had a thin squad.

“But I am hoping it is only this year we are not in Europe, it is not something we want to make a habit of but we have three major competitions now to focus on and we know we can give it our all.

“I’m sure it will be a tough game tonight but with our confidence it is our job to get in the next round and that is what we aim to do.”