Rodgers, who inherited Cole from one of his predecessors, Roy Hodgson, was frustrated with his former Chelsea colleague's display and hinted the ex-England international has not justified his salary since arriving in the summer of 2010.

"The club have invested an astronomical amount of money on a talented player and Joe had the opportunity," Rodgers told the press after the defeat by his former club, Swansea.

"He has been back fit a couple of weeks and his opportunities have been limited but you have to see.

"I thought it was difficult for him. It was too slow and it wasn't what I would expect from a team I tried to set up to be dynamic