Brendan Rodgers insists the club can qualify for next season's Champions League

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insists the club can qualify for next season's Champions League if they cut out their defensive mistakes.

Brendan Rodgers is confident in his side's ability

Rodgers accused his players of losing concentration and becoming lazy after the 3-2 defeat at home to Udinese in the Europa League on Thursday.

The Reds have also suffered a stuttering start to their Premier League campaign, sitting 14th with just one win after six games.

However, despite their setbacks, the former Swansea boss has echoed captain Steven Gerrard's claims that they can finish in the Premier League's top four this season.

Asked if he agreed with Gerrard, Rodgers said: "Yes, absolutely - 100 per cent. There is no doubt it is going to be very difficult for us, but that is our fight."

Liverpool go into Sunday's Premier League home match against Stoke having yet to keep a clean sheet and letting in 12 goals in the process. Only QPR, Norwich and Southampton have conceded more.

In addition, Liverpool have conceded three times in both of their Europa League group matches, beating Young Boys 5-3 in Switzerland before the Udinese defeat.

Rodgers admitted that Thursday's defeat, coming five days after a convincing 5-2 Premier League win at Norwich, had frustrated him.

"We had been so dominant against Udinese and the players were outstanding, so I was just frustrated for them that we had let them back in the game, and then ultimately came out of it with nothing," he said.

"The players give everything and we are just working very hard to cut out the mistakes, because I think once we cut them out, we can be a real force as a team. The creativity in our team is improving every day and there is real excitement in the team going forward.

"If we can just cut out the mistakes that unfortunately we are getting punished for, then I believe we can do very well. We have great quality here, the players are very much unified and there is a wonderful spirit in the group.

"Even though we are frustrated with last night's result, our performance in the league last time out was fantastic, so we will look to carry that into the weekend's game. There is still a very long season ahead of us, we are starting to get to grips with how we work as a team and I'm sure that will bring us good results."