Rodgers signs up sports psychiatrist

Liverpool have hired the renowned sports psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters, part of the successful Great Britain cycling team, for what Brendan Rodgers has described as the “mental tuning” required at the elite level of professional sport.

Peters, author of The Chimp Paradox and credited as a major influence on the Olympians Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton, has added Liverpool to a portfolio of clients that includes the Sky Pro Cycling team and UK Athletics. He will assist Rodgers on a one-day-per-week basis as the manager bids to address the mental strength of all his staff at Liverpool.

“We have brought in someone who is the top guy in his field. I see it as a part of the development of the player,” said Rodgers. “The modern game is very much about the psychological aspect. I do lots of technical, tactical and physical training and sometimes what gets bypassed is the mental tuning for players.”

Rodgers returns to Swansea City tomorrow for the first time since leaving for Liverpool. He faced his former club only last month in the Capital One Cup, losing 3-1 at Anfield, but claims to be returning as a better manager than the one who led Swansea into the Premier League.

He said: “These opening few months here have been fantastic. They haven’t gone swimmingly but there is no doubt that the experience to work at one of the biggest clubs in world football, and to deal with the pressures of that, makes you a better manager.”