Brendan Rodgers has said that Liverpool must "protect" Raheem Sterling from the weight of expectation for both club and country.

The midfielder earned plaudits for his performance during England's win over Switzerland in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier earlier this week, and has also featured heavily for the Reds at the start of the Premier League season.

The manager told the Liverpool Echo: "I've spoken to Raheem about it this week. I must say he handles it very well. He's just taking it all in his stride. He's a very mature boy. He's a good kid who has grown up very quickly in the last two years. He's very grounded.

"His talent is doing all the talking for him. He's in a really exciting time at this club and in an exciting team. It's our job here to protect him as we want him to still be playing at the top of his game when he gets to his peak years between 28 and 31.

"In terms of where he's at, we just need to be careful. It would very foolish for anyone to start focusing solely on Raheem, because England need a team, they don't need just one player. We've seen it over the years with young players. One minute that player is the world's best, the next minute he gets crucified. Raheem will make mistakes, he will have bad games, but he will also have outstanding games."

Liverpool face Aston Villa in the Premier League tomorrow evening.