Rodgers delighted with new boy Sturridge

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has hailed Daniel Sturridge’s impact after another impressive display in the 5-0 win over Norwich.

Rodgers’ side swept Norwich aside with ease and Sturridge found himself involved throughout. He linked up extremely well with Luis Suarez, including a delightful dummy in the build-up to the Uruguayan’s goal.

After the break, the England international scored Liverpool’s third before being replaced by Fabio Borini to the sound of thunderous applause from the Anfield support, and Rodgers was understandably pleased too.

“Daniel has come in and got three goals in three games, and that’s not even three full games. He has done in those games everything we thought he could do,” Rodgers told Sky Sports.

“His goal today was one of the big reasons we brought him in. He is a natural goal scorer. He has wonderful ability, pace and power in the box, but for us I thought he could be someone who just gets a tap-in.

“It was great control and pass from (Jordan) Henderson to allow Stewart (Downing) to slide the ball across with great technique. Daniel was in the right place at the right time and any goal scorer will tell you it’s a great goal because you’re in the box and he got his third goal in three games.

“The play between those two was great (Sturridge and Suarez). I thought Steven Gerrard was unbelievable with his passing, intensity and work rate, but today was very much a team performance.”

Rodgers continued his praise for Liverpool’s team performance and highlighted their work rate and determination as important characteristics against a Norwich team he says are difficult to beat.

“We were outstanding,” he said. “The first goal was important for us today. They’ve shown great resilience in recent months, Norwich, they’re a difficult team to beat.

“But I thought the players were outstanding. Their application and work rate was outstanding, and some of our football today was very, very good. Five goals and a clean sheet is very good.”

The win sees Liverpool jump one place into seventh and despite the one-sided scoreline, Rodgers was quick to dismiss suggestions it was their best performance of the season.

“No not at all. We have played in a number of games where we haven’t got the results,” he said.

“Some people look at it (the Norwich win), see the goals and some of the play today (and say it was Liverpool’s best performance), but we have played well in a lot of games.

“Sometimes we have got our rewards, sometimes we haven’t. It’s always good when you lose to get straight back in. We have worked very hard this week and the players took that into the game.

“(It was a) terrific performance. I am pleased for the players because they worked very hard and were disappointed after last week.”