Rodgers’ side saw a 17-game winning run end in dramatic fashion with a 7-1 Champions League defeat against Borussia Dortmund. The former Liverpool manager had spoken of his excitement at seeing his in-form team testing themselves against last season’s runners-up and he will not abandon hope – or his attacking philosophy – after the rude awakening. “You have that day to grieve, which is never nice,” he said ahead of Sunday’s Premiership encounter with Ross County.

“But I always think that setbacks like that are always a great opportunity to grow and bounce back, even to a higher level than what you were when you started the game. “We had a tough one, and I’m experienced enough to know that when the stakes are high and you get high-level competition, that sometimes you have to expect defeat. If you don’t, you’re a dreamer.

And if you dream in management, you won’t be in it long. “It’s great for everyone to dream, and for critics to look and think what the scores might be, and this and that. But as a manager and a coach, when you’re in the professional game, at times against the Champions League finalists, you might expect that you might actually lose.

But we’ll learn from it and be better for it.” Rodgers pinpointed issues such as pressing as individuals and at wrong moments, showing their inexperience by being “spooked” by early goals, rushing out of position, being below standards with their passing, while pointing to the fact that two .