Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has warned some players to expect to be disappointed as he does not intend to use cup competitions to give fringe players a run out.
With no European football this season there is less pressure on the squad than there was during the 63 matches they were involved in during their run to the Capital One Cup and Europa League finals in the previous campaign.
Klopp is keen to establish some rhythm having seen his side fire blanks in losing at Burnley just a week after beating Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, but wants his players to fight for their places.
It means changes will be kept to a minimum for Tuesday's EFL Cup at Sky Bet Championship side Burton, leaving some players frustrated.
"We will make changes but not big changes, it is not really likely we change seven or eight positions," he said.
"Of course we respect the opponent but it is not the moment to rest someone but we have a few players who are now in a good shape and they have two weeks' more pre-season, if you like, more to train.
"I cannot give all players together the opportunity to play. Sometimes we have to work longer to change the situation.
"Of course each week in which they can't or didn't play it is not too good for a player but that is how it is in football, you accept this when you start playing the game.
"The only thing a player can do is work as hard as possible, to perform in each session and then the manger has to make a decision."
Liverpool had 81 per cent possession against Burnley and despite attempting 26 shots managed just five on target and rarely troubled goalkeeper Tom Heaton.
"There was not enough desire in the last third. We had so many moments around the box where we could have made better decisions," added the German, who is likely to give Belgium striker Divock Origi and new centre-back Joel Matip their first starts of the season.
"We could have done much better. When we were ready for crossing we had no-one in the box and that makes 0.0 per cent sense.
"That is what I mean when I speak about desire. We had so many shots from outside (the box) and sometimes you have to try but it looked too early and kind of desperate.
"To create something like a real mentality you need time. The first game (against Arsenal) was very good, the second game not, so what's the truth now?
"There is no pressure in this moment, it is more a chance to bring the Liverpool train in the right direction and that is what we want to do."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here