Brendan Rodgers
Rodgers believes that Liverpool's improved performances in the second half of the season shows the "character" and "quality" of their squadReuters

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers says his side are aiming to finish inside the top three of the Premier League and gain an automatic qualification to next season's Champions League.

Despite getting off to a very poor start to the 2014/15 season, the Reds have managed to climb to the third place in the Premier League, following their recent 2-1 win over defending English champions Manchester City.

Now as the Reds are only three points behind the third place Arsenal, Rodgers says his side are aiming to finish above the fourth place in the Premier League this season.

"We want to finish as high as we possibly can in the Premier League, not just fourth," Rodgers told BBC Sport. "Last season we won 12 out of the last 14 games. And the momentum is building into this last period, but we still have work to do."

However, the former Swansea City boss insists that securing a top four finish in the Premier League this season would be a "better achievement" than their second place finish in 2013-14.

"Because of everything we have been through this season it will be a better achievement," Rodgers added. "We had a good balance to the team last year but it changed around. The team broke up virtually with a lot of new players."

Despite admitting that his side were not able to "find rhythm" in the first half of the campaign, the Northern Irishman claims that the Reds have now "found a solution" due to them believing in themselves.

"Of course it was difficult for us to find rhythm in the early part of the season," he said. "Lots of the teams were ahead of us both in terms both of points and performance levels. But we found a solution; the players believed that and performed to a high level."

Rodgers believes that Liverpool's improved performances in the second half of the season shows the "character" and "quality" of their squad.

"I think it shows everything about the character as well as the quality. It was an outstanding team performance, littered with good play and great spirit," added Rodgers.