Brendan Rodgers: 'Sterling under a lot of pressure'

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has defended the recent form of winger Raheem Sterling, saying that his current loss of confidence was inevitable.

The England international, who came under fire earlier this season for claiming that he was 'too tired' to play for his country, was unable to make a true impact in the Reds' 3-1 reverse against Crystal Palace earlier today.

However, Rodgers has backed Sterling to bounce back in the coming weeks, with the fixtures coming thick and fast both domestically and in Europe.

"He's played a lot of games," he told BBC Sport. "There is a lot of pressure on the young player. He's not an unknown and is a marked player.

"Raheem's confidence is not quite as high and the intensity not quite as high. He's an outstanding talent - he's going to have little spells like that."

Today's defeat leaves Liverpool down in 12th place in the Premier League table.