Brendan Rodgers employed a tried and true method for Liverpool on Wednesday night.

The Northern Irishman sent out his side in 4-3-3 formation for the FA Cup quarter-final replay at Blackburn Rovers after his 3-4-2-1 line-up failed to work in successive Premier League losses to Manchester United and Arsenal.

Philippe Coutinho's 70th-minute goal gave the Reds a 1-0 victory over Rovers to book a Wembley date with Aston Villa on April 19 and Rodgers was full of praise for the way the formation worked while highlighting the performances of a few of his stars.

"You saw tonight the shape of the team - we reintroduced 4-3-3 again - we had good positions on the field, were able to keep possession and got into the final third of the field very well with real bright, creative, attacking players," he said.

"But you saw tonight the positioning of the team was good. Glen Johnson and Dejan Lovren haven't played a lot recently and they were both outstanding; I thought Joe Allen was magnificent in midfield.

"And I thought Raheem Sterling was absolutely incredible tonight again. It was a very good team performance and one that of course we're happy with."