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Raheem Sterling believes the faith of Brendan Rodgers has been the key factor behind his rise to prominence at Liverpool FC this season.

Sterling has emerged as one of the Reds’ key players as they have moved to the top of the Premier League table.

The 19-year-old scored twice as his side won 3-2 at Norwich City on Sunday, taking his tally for the season to 10 in all competitions.

More importantly, the Reds’ victory puts them five points clear with three games to play. Having won their last 11 games, they now need seven more points to end the 24-year wait for a league title.

Sterling celebrated his first goal by running to the dugout and embracing Rodgers, and the youngster says it is his manager’s support which has helped him develop into such a vital player at Anfield.

He said: “He has had belief in me; he has put me in different positions and had the faith to try me there.

“He has had great faith and I am just glad I got a goal for him and a goal for the team.

“I knew there was a lot more to come from me. I just needed to have confidence and right now my confidence is sky high.”

Now, all eyes will be on Anfield, and the visit of Chelsea on Sunday. Victory for Liverpool would knock the Londoners out of the title race, but Sterling says they will approach the game the same as they would any other.

“We are taking it step by step,” he said. “We know what a big part of the season this is. We will just go into Chelsea and try and do what we did against Norwich. We go again next weekend.

“Everyone in the changing room is really up for it, but we will just take it as another game. We won’t concentrate too much on what is happening outside, as we just want to take care of what is going on on the pitch. We want to get three more points.

“We come in every day, we see each other and we know what the dream is. We are keeping each other modest. If we keep working hard, there is a real goal at the end of it.

“We just have to keep our head down, keep working hard and concentrate on the weekend.”

Of the victory at Norwich, Sterling said: “It was a great win. We knew there was pressure on us but we just took it as another game.

“The last 10 minutes were a bit nerve-racking but I thought everyone did collectively well. We fought for our lives, and we got the result in the end.

“The manager told us to make sure a result like the Chelsea one (against Sunderland) didn’t happen to us. He told us Norwich are fighting to stay up and we knew what to expect. We did really well to stay together when it was tough late on. We got the three points, and that’s all that matters.”

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