Steven Gerrard calls on Liverpool to hand Brendan Rodgers improved contract following victory over Manchester United

Rodgers' current contract will expire next summer

Brendan Rodgers has led a revival in Liverpool fortunes (EPA)

Steven Gerrard has called on Liverpool’s owners to reward manager Brendan Rodgers with a long-term contract for having transformed the club into title challengers for the first time in years.

A top-four Premier League finish and a Champions League place next season are all but confirmed for the first time since 2009-10, while the prospect of ending the season as league champions cannot be discounted as Sunday’s 3-0 win against Manchester United suggests Liverpool can beat anyone anywhere during the run-in. They are second in the table four points behind Chelsea but with a game in hand.

Victory at Old Trafford was their fifth league win in succession. In the 10 matches since the turn of the year they are unbeaten, having amassed 26 points to drive them towards the summit of the Premier League, a title they have not won since 1990, when it was still called the First Division.

Chelsea and Manchester City would still be safer bets for the destination of the trophy come May. But Gerrard believes that, regardless of what happens between now and then, Liverpool must tie down their manager, whose current contract expires next summer, to a long-term deal.

“He has been a revelation,” Gerrard said of the Northern Irishman, who signed a three-year contract with the club in June 2012. “He is a young coach who has earned the right to be Liverpool manager.

“I am sure the rest of the players would echo what I am saying. I am absolutely delighted he is here and I just hope there is a lot of movement in Boston [where the club’s owners are based], because they have got to get him signed up as soon as possible.”

The captain added that time was of the essence in securing the services of a man admired by many top clubs. “When players are in this situation with a year to go and you want to keep hold of them so desperately, the club reacts really quickly. I think he deserves a very long contract here.”