Brendan Rodgers is the right man to lead Liverpool, says Alex Neil, as the Canaries look to turn up the heat on the Reds' boss.

The Northern Irishman has come under heavy fire after a lacklustre start to the Premier League season following on from a limp campaign last time around.

Neil is in no doubt, however, the former Swansea City boss will get things right at Anfield.

'I think Brendan Rodgers has proved himself as a manager. He nearly won the league two seasons ago,' said Neil. 'Who am I to comment on Brendan Rodgers? He has done fantastically well in his career. I don't buy into this idea Liverpool is in crisis. Liverpool have good players, they are well-managed and they will be a danger to any team in the league. People might be saying it is a good time to play them, the bottom line is we will focus on what we are trying to do. We'll look at their strengths and try to nullify those.'

Neil knows the value of a strong start at Anfield to profit from any signs of anxiety on or off the pitch in the home ranks.

'The start is important in any game because we have spoken about the importance of that first goal in the Premier League,' he said. 'It allows you to adopt a certain style of play afterwards, once you have got that goal, or if you concede then you have to open yourself up a wee bit.

'It is like anything else, teams go through periods of good and bad form. We did it at Southampton, where we didn't hit our levels, and clicked back into gear the following game against Bournemouth. There is a variety of reasons for that. Players are not robots.'