Brendan Rodgers: 'Europa League is priority'

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has claimed that the Europa League is the club's priority this season.

The Reds, who travel to Zenit St Petersburg in the last 32 of the competition on Thursday, are no longer in the FA Cup or League Cup and currently occupy ninth place in the Premier League table.

When asked if the Europa League was now the club's main focus, Rodgers told reporters: "Yes, absolutely. This was always a competition we wanted to do well in. We went out of the domestic cups - one early on in the season when we had a young team playing and then obviously I made changes in the FA Cup game which we lost as well.

"This is certainly an important competition for us. Between now and the end of the season - both in this competition and the league - we want to give everything we can to making this a successful season."

Liverpool reached the next round of the competition by finishing top of Group A, while Zenit entered after they were knocked out of the Champions League.