Monk deserves chance

Brendan Rodgers is happy to see Garry Monk given a chance to manage in the Premier League after pushing him in that direction during their time together at Swansea.

Monk was appointed as the Swans’ interim player-manager earlier this month following the sacking of Michael Laudrup and will take charge of his fifth game against Rodgers’ Liverpool at Anfield tomorrow.

Monk has played for Swansea in all four divisions and was club captain when Rodgers was manager of the club between 2010 and 2012. The Liverpool boss said: “I speak a lot with the senior players whatever team I’m at and obviously at the time I was there he was a magnificent captain for me. In a lot of our conversations, which were very open, I said to him I thought he should start thinking about his coaching, two to three years before he finishes playing.