His blistering performances were this week enough to persuade England manager Roy Hodgson to hand the teenager his first international cap and start in the friendly against Sweden in Stockholm. Sterling is one of several youngsters to have been, admittedly more through necessity than design, given an opportunity by Rodgers.

Last weekend’s trip to European Cup holders and Premier League high-fliers Chelsea was arguably the toughest test yet for the fledglings, particularly once Liverpool fell behind to John Terry’s first-half opener.

That the visitors’ second-half resurgence owed much to the arrival from the bench of Suso and the switch in position of Sterling underlined the growing maturity of the youngsters.

And Jamie Carragher believes the duo, along with defender Andre Wisdom who was employed both as centre-back and right-back at Stamford Bridge, will all have gained from the experience.

“The young lads who were out there – Andre, Raheem and Suso – all played their part,” he says.

“I thought Suso did really well when he came on, he did the same when he came on against Anzhi as well.

“They were not just playing against one of the top teams in the country, but one of the top teams in Europe.

“It’s a great learning curve for them. They are doing really well for us and that’s why the manager keeps picking them.

“You have to think of the benefits they will get from experiences like that in the future.”

Carragher insists Rodgers deserves praise for not only selecting but keeping faith in Liverpool’s new breed, even though their emergence and that of Wisdom in particular has arguably lessened the first-team opportunities of the veteran.

“Credit to them and also credit to the manager for putting them in there,” says Carragher, who made his first Premier League start of the campaign at Chelsea in place of the ill Martin Skrtel.

“He’s been very brave the way he has given the young players a chance.

“They have done really well all season. To go away from home to a place like Stamford Bridge, probably the toughest place we’ve been to this season, and come away with a positive result bodes well for the future.”

One of several other youngsters to have been introduced by Rodgers this season is Conor Coady.

The 19-year-old was handed his debut in last week’s Europa League defeat to Anzhi Makhachkala in Moscow, neat and tidy during a 61-minutes appearance.

And Coady acknowledges from just that brief outing the step up required to bridge the gap between reserve and first team football.

“I think I need to work on the speed of my play,” says Coady.

“I need to be able to play quicker and to play two-touch football. In the position I play you have to do that quite a lot.

“If you look at the players we have in the first team now in my position, you’re talking about the likes of Gerrard and Allen and they are very quick on the ball.

“They know where the ball is going to break before it does.

“My aim is to keep my head down and work as hard as possible. I need to keep focused in the gym, keep getting stronger and keep improving on the football pitch. I’ll see where it takes me and hopefully I can make a few more appearances.”