Steven Gerrard has revealed that Liverpool will be "majorly, majorly disappointed" not to reach at least the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season.
The Reds return to Europe's premier club competition for the first time in five years on Tuesday night when they host Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad at Anfield.
Gerrard has insisted that the Merseysiders are not merely content to be back in the Champions League, and have ambitions to progress into the latter stages in what he hopes is the first of many seasons back at the top table.
"I've got a lot of confidence in Brendan [Rodgers] and in the squad," Gerrard told the Daily Mail. "Listen, I'll put it another way. If we go out in the group stages, or the last 16, we will be majorly, majorly disappointed. We want to progress. We want to go as far as we can. This can't be a one-off. This can't be, 'Isn't it great where we are?'
"This isn't a reward for finishing second last year. I don't see it as a reward. This is where Liverpool should be — and should be consistently. It's the responsibility of myself and the players to give it our best crack. It is important that we have got the Champions League next year as well.
"The players who haven't sampled this and then get a taste of it — once they have had that taste I know they are going to love it. Hopefully, it will drive them on to want to keep it at Liverpool for a long time to come."
Gerrard captained Liverpool to Champions League glory in 2005, and the final of the competition two years later.
Joe Fish
