Brendan Rodgers seeks self-confidence from Liverpool's position at the top of Premier League

The Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers, said that his players were experiencing something new in being top of the Premier League and would develop the self-confidence to build on leads rather than drop deep to preserve them.

The leaders' unconvincing second-half performances has seen Liverpool drop their line against Aston Villa, Manchester United and also Swansea, where they conceded two points on Monday. Rodgers said: "Against Swansea we were very good in the first half but were not how I expected us to be in the second half."