With the start of the Premier League season less than a week away, there’ll be more than one Liverpool fan dreading the Reds opening day trip to the Britannia Stadium with the clubs humiliating 6-1 defeat at the hands of Stoke City still keeping them up at night. Brendan Rodgers men capped off a disappointing campaign with their worst loss in recent memory, but changes and additions at Anfield over the summer have newly appointed captain Jordan Henderson in a bullish mood ahead of their trip to the Potteries.
“There couldn’t be a better place for us to start and put what happened there last season to bed once and for all,” he told the club’s official website. “The lads who were playing that day will remember it for quite some time. It was a horrible day for everyone involved. We have a determination to do better and to improve as a team,” continued the 25-year old. “We will be stronger with the new players that we have got. We are a young team but we have brought in quality. I think the quality we have added will make a big difference.”
The Reds have been busy since the end of last season, shaking up Rodgers back-room staff and bringing in a number of fresh faces as the Anfield outfit look to force their way back in to the top-four come May. Although they’ve come in for a touch of criticism after a relatively lax pre-season saw them eschew the chance to square off against some real competition in favour of holding a series of glorified training sessions, Henderson believes his team will be ready come kick-off.
“We feel good in terms of fitness,” added the newly minted Liverpool captain. “I felt good towards the end of the game and all the lads were the same. We are in a good place. We have been performing well and have got great quality in the team,” he explained. “I still think we need to work on a couple of things this week before Stoke but we will go there with a lot of confidence and belief that we can get a good result.”
