BRENDAN RODGERS believes his Liverpool side are ready to make amends when they face Fulham at Anfield tomorrow.

The Reds boss admits standards slipped in last weekend’s chastening 3-1 defeat at home to Aston Villa.

However, Rodgers is convinced that his players are ready to prove that was merely a blip after a productive week on the training ground.

Liverpool will be boosted by the return of left-back Jose Enrique from a hamstring injury as they kick off a hectic festive schedule of four games in 11 days.

Rodgers wants them to banish the memory of that Villa setback by stepping up their pursuit of the Champions League places.

“We weren’t at our best against Villa and we were all disappointed with the result,” said Rodgers.

“But the reaction of the players this week has been first class. Their willingness to put it right and get three points this weekend is very high. I’ve seen that in training.

“We’ve had a really good week. We have worked, analysed and prepared for the game against Fulham.

“It’s about getting our own mentality right. If we do that then we will continue to climb the table.

“My concern is to keep us moving forward. We need to play against Fulham with the intensity we’ve shown for most of the season. We’re still in a position where we can achieve our objectives.”

With confidence high having rattled off three successive wins in all competitions, Liverpool were widely expected to see off the challenge of Villa, who were only just above the drop zone.

However, after failing to make their early dominance count, the Reds’ performance went downhill fast and they were punished.

Rodgers says it was a timely reminder that there is no place for complacency in the Premier League – no matter who the opponents are.

“Maybe for the first time at Anfield this season there was an expectancy of us to get the result last weekend,” he added.

“There should be expectancy because we’re playing at home and this is one of the biggest clubs in world football.

“The main reason why I came here was the expectancy to win things and that’s something that we’ll fight for. We’re building the club up to do that.

“But you can’t ever look too far ahead. If you go into a game with any idea that it’s going to be a stroll then you’ll fall flat on your face.

“I thought it was a funny day all round because we started the game really well and could have been three or four goals up in the first 25 minutes. But then we conceded and that made life very difficult for us.

“No game is easy in this division and you have got to give credit to Aston Villa and Paul Lambert.

“There have only been two games this year where I walked into the dressing room disappointed. One was Arsenal because we weren’t at the races that day and the other was against Aston Villa.

“Apart from that I can’t be critical of the team. We’ve created so many opportunities, played good football and we have been unlucky not to get three points on more occasions this season.”

Martin Jol’s Fulham are 13th in the Premier League – one place and two points worse off than Liverpool.

The Cottagers, who lost to lowly QPR last weekend, have won just one of their past nine league matches and their only success on the road came at Wigan back in September. However, Rodgers is wary of the threat posed by striker Dimitar Berbatov who has impressed since his summer move from Manchester United.

“Fulham have some terrific players and Martin Jol is a very good, experienced manager,” added Rodgers. “In Berbatov they have a player who is on the top of his game at the moment.

“Villa’s away form wasn’t great either but our concentration has to be on solely on ourselves and making sure we’re at our best on Saturday. We have been reasonably consistent with our performances and we want to get back to climbing the table.”

Enrique is set to return to the side tomorrow after missing the Villa game due to a tight hamstring but Oussama Assaidi has been sidelined by a knee injury suffered in training.

Liverpool will also be boosted by the return of Fabio Borini to training next week.

The Italian striker has been out since breaking a bone in his foot back in October but the FA Cup tie with Mansfield on January 6 could be his comeback game.