What a difference three months makes in football. Following Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat against Crystal Palace back in November, then under-pressure manager Brendan Rodgers admitted his side were low on confidence and that they needed to find a quick solution.

Fast-forward to February and his team are improving with each game and seem to have found the winning formula in this 3-4-2-1 formation, which helped them to come from behind and book a place in the FA Cup quarter-final with a 2-1 win over the Eagles.

In stark contrast of emotions after that league fixture, Rodgers was unsurprisingly in a positive mood as he heaped praise on his players. 

“I thought we were outstanding, certainly a different feeling to when we were here before and I think you’ve seen the confidence in the team and the composure today,” he said.

Two goals in nine second-half minutes from Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana cancelled out Frazier Campbell’s 16th-minute opener at Selhurst Park to keep the Reds’ hopes of an FA Cup and Europa League double alive.

“We said at the beginning of the season that the objective was to win a trophy and we want to be as strong as we can, the team’s in a good condition mentally and physically,” the Northern Irishman said.

With the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham already knocked out of the competition, the Liverpool boss is refusing to get carried away, despite his team being one of the favourites to lift the trophy in May.

“It’s a cup competition and you have to earn the right to win it, for us it’s about the next game. 

“It was a tough game away at Palace, many people were expecting us to lose after the last time we played but it was a great performance from the players,” Rodgers said.

In the aftermath of the loss against the Reds, Palace have now won just two of their last 10 home games in all competitions, something which manager Alan Pardew has admitted needs to change.

“The fans and the backing we have here is really phenomenal, we can’t underestimate what that can do for us but we’ve got to control the game.”