Raheem Sterling insists Liverpool have the belief to recover from the disappointment of a third consecutive defeat, against Chelsea on Saturday, when they return to action after the international break.

The Reds were undone by the Barclays Premier League's early leaders at Anfield despite breaking the deadlock after just nine minutes, when Emre Can grabbed his first goal for the club from long range and with the help of a heavy deflection.

Pegged back shortly after by a Gary Cahill finish that was awarded via goalline technology, the home side were ultimately beaten by a powerful Diego Costa rebound strike exactly halfway through the second period.

The loss concluded a punishing week for Brendan Rodgers' charges, who had been successively overturned 1-0 by Newcastle United in the league and then Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League.

Now they must wait for a fortnight for an opportunity to return to winning ways, but Sterling retains confidence that he and his colleagues have the tenacity to alter their form and climb the Premier League standings.

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"It's always disappointing to be 1-0 up and lose the game," the forward told Liverpoolfc.com after the final whistle. "The boys tried hard and there is disappointment throughout the camp. We'll pick up ourselves up and go again.

"Defensively, we could have dealt with situations better. But I thought as a team performance, we did well at times and certainly could have won the game.

"If we take our chances and play well, we can turn it around and climb up the table. But we just need to focus purely on the next game after the international break.

"Everyone has the belief that we can do it. We showed against the team at the top of the league that there is not much between us. We'll keep going and turn it around very soon."

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