Skrtel Vows To Fight For Shirt

Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has vowed to fight for his place having fallen out of favour with manager Brendan Rodgers.

The Slovakia international lost his first-team spot to veteran Jamie Carragher, who is retiring at the end of the season, after January's FA Cup exit to League One Oldham.

He has started just one Premier League match - against Southampton when Carragher was injured - and has featured only three times since then.

Rodgers has been heavily linked with a move for Wales captain and centre-back Ashley Williams, with whom he worked at former club Swansea, in the summer.

That would put more pressure on Skrtel but the 28-year-old is determined to stand his ground.

"This is what happens in football and this time it was my turn," he told his official website, martin-skrtel.com.

"I have to respect it and wait for my chance and I hope my chance will come before the end of the season.

"Those who know me know that I will fight for my place in the team."

Rodgers knows he has to bring in quality in the summer if he is to bridge the gap between his side's current seventh place and the Champions League spots.

He has also been linked with Ajax's Denmark international Christian Eriksen, one of Europe's hottest young prospects.

And while the Reds boss accepts they do not have the finances to compete with some of Europe's biggest spenders, he has identified the players he wants to continue rebuilding.

"Like every other club you want to be making improvements constantly," Rodgers said.

"Unless you have absolute multi-millions to spend and make a big impact over one window then you have to do it over a number of windows.

"This will be another window which will be important for us in order to strengthen the group, to add quality to the group, because that can bring us up to another level.

"You have to be specific. You look at the profile of the players fitting into the way we want to work and then make sure they have the right mental characteristics to come into here.

"You can have players who are very good but can they play for Liverpool in their head? That is key for us going forward.

"We have to bring in players who will be mentally right and accept the challenge and not just be happy to be at Liverpool.

"To be at Liverpool means you have to be successful and you want to win things and we've no God-given right to do that. We have to earn the right and that is why we need those players who want to come in and earn the right."