Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers praises Sturridge, says the club can't afford to lose him again

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers says he has no intention of taking any risks with Daniel Sturridge's fitness, after the striker scored in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday to move into the FA Cup quarter-finals.

"Daniel coming back has given us a big boost," said Rodgers. "He's working his way back, so it's just about extending his game time" "I've got to do that because you risk re-injuring him and that's something we can't afford. "You can see his qualities - his speed, his touch and he doesn't need too many chances to score.

 After Saturday's win, the Reds have only lost twice in 22 games since a 3-1 Premier League defeat against Palace in November. "Earlier on in the season we weren't so good here at all but it was the making of the team really," He told BT Sport.

"It's obviously a difficult place to come. Alan [Pardew] has come in and done a great job here. It was always going to be tight and difficult. "I thought we were very, very good after they scored the goal. We started a bit slow and weren't aggressive enough.

"I think we had 15 efforts on goal in the first half. I felt our three defenders needed to be more aggressive and go and attack the ball. We also needed to get in and around the second balls a wee bit more."

 Reflecting further on Liverpool's loss to Palace earlier this season, Rodgers added: "We'd no pace, we'd no penetration in the team. Our performance level and results couldn't have got any worse. "We needed to arrest the momentum that was going in a negative way and, following that, we got seven points out of nine.

"In that period it was about trying to do a system and a solution where we could get our intensity back and get our technical players on the field. "From that period here in November we've been on a really, really good run."

In the Premier League, Liverpool currently sit in 7th place, only four points away from UEFA Champions League spot.

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