Liverpool's first team coach Alex Miller insists the Reds must come flying out of the blocks this season if they are to mount a genuine title challenge.

Inconsistent results over the early months of the campaign have been a hallmark of recent seasons, but Miller believes it'll be a different story this time around.

Speaking in Holland at the launch of this weekend's Port of Rotterdam tournament, he said: "In the last two seasons we haven't made good starts but hopefully it will be different this year.

"We have made one or two changes to our training programme which we believe will help us start really well. The competition is so tough in England that it's so important you get off to a good start and that'll be our aim from the moment we kick off at Aston Villa.

"We've added some players who we believe will help us be a better squad and we're hoping they gel really quickly with the rest of the squad.

"I'm not stupid enough to say this is going to be our year or that we're going to win it, but we'll certainly be challenging. We have a good set of players and we'll take some beating."