Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers: 'Champions League qualification vital'

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has insisted that Champions League qualification is "vitally important" for the club if they are to have any hope of attracting top-class players.

The Merseyside outfit are currently fourth in the Premier League table, just three points adrift of Tottenham Hotspur, with 12 games left to play.

"I think it's vitally important [to qualify]," Rodgers said in a press conference. "For us to go to that next level that's where we need to be.

"I took over the team in eighth and that's what we have been building towards over the last 18 months. If we can get into the elite competition, it attracts a different type of player as well. I think it's very important and hopefully it will be this year."

The Reds finished seventh in the table last season.