Steven Gerrard believes Liverpool’s dramatic 3-2 victory at Bolton will kick-start their title challenge.
The skipper grabbed a stunning late winner at the Reebok Stadium to ensure the Reds bounced back from their defeat to Aston Villa.
The international break means Liverpool are without a game for a fortnight but Gerrard is confident they will build on Saturday’s triumph.
“It’s been well documented that it’s been a tough week and this is a big win for us,” he said.
“No-one expected us to lose two of our opening three games and there was a lot of pressure on us to deliver three points.
“The performance played second fiddle today and it was all about the result.
“People were writing us off after three games which is madness.
“But we responded in the right way and we can take a lot of confidence from this result.
“I think things will settle down now and we will go on a good run of results.”
Gerrard admitted the recent criticism aimed both at himself and the team made Saturday’s winning strike extra sweet.
“All the players knew the performance wasn’t good enough against Aston Villa,” he said.
“I’ve had a difficult start myself and I held my hands up in the dressing room after the Villa game and said I wasn’t good enough.
“I’m man enough to do that. I needed to react personally today and I felt I did that.
“It’s always nice to win and score but if throughout the week you are under extra pressure and you hear people sniping away, trying to put the team down, then you get a little bit more satisfaction.
“We needed to react today and everyone stood up to be counted. We controlled the game all the way through and it was well deserved in the end.”
Gerrard was closely marshalled by Fabrice Muamba in the first half but the sending off of Sean Davis gave him the chance to run the show after the break.
He said: “I played a little bit deeper today and tried to get on the ball. It was the same role I played here last year.
“It was a difficult first 45 minutes because Muamba was like my shadow.
“I think if I had gone to the toilet in the first half he would have probably followed me!
“When they went a man down they couldn’t man mark me. That’s when the game opened up and we could punish them.”
The Reds are six points adrift of early pace-setters Chelsea and Tottenham but Gerrard insists that gap is of little concern at this stage.
And after a testing opening few weeks he expects the Reds to be a different proposition after the international break.
“After finishing second last year everyone expected us to get off to a flying start and go straight to the top of the table,” he said,
“But we didn’t have a perfect pre-season. Players joined up late and we had bad luck with injuries. I’m not looking for excuses but we had disruptions.
“We always knew at times it was going to be difficult and we’ve been a bit edgy.
“I think the league this year is a lot different to last year when the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United were winning every game.
“I don’t think that will be the case this year. I think there are seven or eight top clubs in this league now who will be taking points off each other and the total needed to win the league will be lower this time.
“You can say the international break has come at a bad time because we’ve won and you want the next game to come as soon as possible but we can use this time to get people back. “Fabio Aurelio isn’t far away and Daniel Agger won’t be far away either.
“Hopefully the boys who are off on international duty can stay fit, win for their countries and come back stronger.”
The Reds wore black arm bands on Saturday following the death of Diego Cavalieri’s father. The Brazilian keeper missed the game to fly home to South America.
The skipper grabbed a stunning late winner at the Reebok Stadium to ensure the Reds bounced back from their defeat to Aston Villa.
The international break means Liverpool are without a game for a fortnight but Gerrard is confident they will build on Saturday’s triumph.
“It’s been well documented that it’s been a tough week and this is a big win for us,” he said.
“No-one expected us to lose two of our opening three games and there was a lot of pressure on us to deliver three points.
“The performance played second fiddle today and it was all about the result.
“People were writing us off after three games which is madness.
“But we responded in the right way and we can take a lot of confidence from this result.
“I think things will settle down now and we will go on a good run of results.”
Gerrard admitted the recent criticism aimed both at himself and the team made Saturday’s winning strike extra sweet.
“All the players knew the performance wasn’t good enough against Aston Villa,” he said.
“I’ve had a difficult start myself and I held my hands up in the dressing room after the Villa game and said I wasn’t good enough.
“I’m man enough to do that. I needed to react personally today and I felt I did that.
“It’s always nice to win and score but if throughout the week you are under extra pressure and you hear people sniping away, trying to put the team down, then you get a little bit more satisfaction.
“We needed to react today and everyone stood up to be counted. We controlled the game all the way through and it was well deserved in the end.”
Gerrard was closely marshalled by Fabrice Muamba in the first half but the sending off of Sean Davis gave him the chance to run the show after the break.
He said: “I played a little bit deeper today and tried to get on the ball. It was the same role I played here last year.
“It was a difficult first 45 minutes because Muamba was like my shadow.
“I think if I had gone to the toilet in the first half he would have probably followed me!
“When they went a man down they couldn’t man mark me. That’s when the game opened up and we could punish them.”
The Reds are six points adrift of early pace-setters Chelsea and Tottenham but Gerrard insists that gap is of little concern at this stage.
And after a testing opening few weeks he expects the Reds to be a different proposition after the international break.
“After finishing second last year everyone expected us to get off to a flying start and go straight to the top of the table,” he said,
“But we didn’t have a perfect pre-season. Players joined up late and we had bad luck with injuries. I’m not looking for excuses but we had disruptions.
“We always knew at times it was going to be difficult and we’ve been a bit edgy.
“I think the league this year is a lot different to last year when the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United were winning every game.
“I don’t think that will be the case this year. I think there are seven or eight top clubs in this league now who will be taking points off each other and the total needed to win the league will be lower this time.
“You can say the international break has come at a bad time because we’ve won and you want the next game to come as soon as possible but we can use this time to get people back. “Fabio Aurelio isn’t far away and Daniel Agger won’t be far away either.
“Hopefully the boys who are off on international duty can stay fit, win for their countries and come back stronger.”
The Reds wore black arm bands on Saturday following the death of Diego Cavalieri’s father. The Brazilian keeper missed the game to fly home to South America.
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