After 210 minutes of hard graft and brilliant football, Liverpool once again found themselves achieve less than their performance meritted. Having thrown everything they could at Chelsea in the Semi-Final double headers - accumulating a total of 35 shots at goal over both legs - Liverpool still failed to make the most of their opporunities and were undone by yet another set piece at Stamford Bridge last night. With the same old mistakes letting Rodgers' side down, it is important that they don't let all of their recent progress go out of the window. 

Even though Liverpool where in touching distance of a trip to Wembley, losing out on the Capital One Cup certainly isn't the end of the world. The Reds still find themselves in two cup competitions (albeit still only the early stages of both The FA Cup and Europa League) as well as still being in the hunt for a top four spot. With all three of these targets still very much possible, Liverpool can't afford to feel sorry for themselves after their League Cup exit. Recent performances, rather than results, have indicated exactally what this crop of young Liverpool players are capable of. If the performance level displayed in both legs against Chelsea can be matched for the remainder of the season then there is no reason that Liverpool cannot continue making progress and reach the standard of football that so nearly found them glory last season. The return of Daniel Sturridge this weekend will also add a huge boost to what will be a slightly deflated Liverpool dressing room. For all the good build up play displayed by Liverpoool of late, the cutting edge that Sturridge can offer has been sorely missed. Having their star striker back will help them cope with the blow that they have suffered and allow them to compete on all three fronts between now and the end of the season. Obviously confidence will have taken a huge knock after what was a huge opportunity for some silverware. Liverpool have also struggled to bounce back from major setbacks already this season. Exit from the Champions League was then followed by a 3-0 defeat at Manchester United, so this time around Rodgers' men will have to look for a much better response. West Ham come to Anfield this weekend sitting above Liverpool in the league, so The Reds have another huge test of chartacter on their hands, but another huge opportunity too. A win at the weekend would see Liverpool move above The Hammers at least, with other results possibly allowing them to jump above Tottenham as well. Overtaking two sides in the challenge top four would certainly help boost morale around the club, and turn a disappointing week into a relatively successful one. This immediate response is also vital, to allow the team to really push on next month. Liverpool have a blockbuster set of fixtures in February that, if made the most of, will allow everyone to forget about Tuesday's defeat. A chance to make amends for their slight slip up against Bolton with a replay at The Reebok, a Merseyside Derby, the visit of Spurs to Anfield and the start of the Europa League knockout stage could completely transform Liveprool's season. However if Rodgers cannot lift his players off the floor after being knocked down by Mourinho's Chelsea, then this overhaul of testing fixtures could really set them up for a torrid time. 

At the end of the day, losing out on The Capital One Cup really should not have a lasting effect on the performance of this Liverpool squad. However, failure to recover from a mentally and physically tiring week of football could prevent the Anfield side from making the most of a decisive set of upcoming fixtures. Brendan Rodgers will be tested to see if he can get the response out of his players that he may not have had after previous upsets, but with the return of star man Daniel Sturridge and the signs shown in recent performances, they shouldn't find it hard to pick themselves up and take something from this campaign.