Brendan Rodgers: 'Liverpool fringe players are crucial'

Brendan Rodgers has insisted that Liverpool's fringe players will prove crucial in the remainder of the season after Iago Aspas scored his first goal for the club during their victory over Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.

The likes of Aspas, Brad Jones, Victor Moses and Luis Alberto all earned some rare game time as the Reds moved into the fourth stage of the competition thanks to a 2-0 win at Anfield, in a match where Lucas Leiva, Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez were all summoned from the bench after a flat first half.

"They have to contribute - I can't rely on 11, 12 players," Rodgers told the media. "Brad Jones coming in was excellent, Brad's been a really loyal number two. He didn't have much to do, but what he did do with his hands was clean and his distribution was very good.

"Iago - it's important for his confidence. It's been difficult when you have a world-class striker playing week in, week out and getting goals. Then you've got Daniel Sturridge supporting, so he's been the cover player a lot of this season apart form the opening period.

"It was good for him to get his goal in front of the Kop and hopefully that'll give him a little bit of confidence."

Liverpool will make the visit to either Bournemouth or Burton Albion in the fourth round of the competition.