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LONDON. — Brendan Rodgers believes his Liverpool side can harness the emotions swirling around Anfield as the club looks to win its first English title of the English Premier League soccer era.
This week saw the club and city mark the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster which killed 96 Liverpool fans, with the Reds two points clear at the top of the table ahead of tomorrow’s match away to Norwich.

Rodgers, who spoke at the Anfield memorial service on Tuesday, said yesterday: “I’ve got an incredible bunch of players that work tirelessly every day. They’re very focused and concentrated on the job we want to do.

“Of course at this part of the season it can bring stress but we use the stress as a determination. It’s also an opportunity to show that you can fight.

“If ever I learnt that, it was this week with the memorial that took place.

“A wonderful service and the many people that inspired us that under the most stressful circumstances you can fight and use it as a determining factor to succeed,” the Northern Irishman added after a lengthy campaign by victims’ families recently led to the opening of a new inquest.

Last week’s victory over title rivals Manchester City was seen by many as a key moment in the English Premier League season.

Afterwards Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, whose 10-year-old cousin, Jon-Paul Gilhooley was the youngest of those who died at Hillsborough, was in tears as he gave a rousing speech to his team-mates.

“I thought it was great because it encapsulated a lot of what the message has been from myself right the way through the season,” said Rodgers.

“It was great that Stevie directly after the game was pulling the players together and saying it’s about the next game.

“Everyone knows what I think of Steven and the importance that he has to us. — AFP.