Stand-in Liverpool captain James Milner has insisted that Brendan Rodgers will turn the club's fortunes around.

Milner opened the scoring against his former club Aston Villa after barely a minute of the 3-2 victory at Anfield on Saturday as the Reds won a league game for the first time since August 17.

The England international said that he has been impressed with what he has seen from the former Swansea boss behind the scenes since arriving on a free transfer from Manchester City this summer, and insisted that criticism of the 42-year-old is unfair.

"There are people giving us criticism from outside the club, but when things are going well it gets blown out of context and the same when it is bad," he told The Mirror. "We are five points off the top [of the table].

"I have been really impressed with the manager. Preparation is second to none, we go into every game with a gameplan. Training is very good and any problems as a player you can see on the pitch, he has seen them as well.

"A lot of things that have been said are disappointing because you saw how close they went to winning the league a couple of years ago and then with the players that have left the club, it is going to take time to get back to that point. With patience he has shown that he is a top-class manager and with the players we have, we can get to where we want to be."

Liverpool host FC Sion in the Europa League on Thursday before facing Everton in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park next Sunday.