Gerrard: Carroll Star Man

Steven Gerrard was in no doubt as to whom his man of the match was in Liverpool’s impressive 6-1 victory over Brighton in the FA Cup.

The young Geordie scored one and made another during a game where he was a constant menace to the opposition defence.

It was his presence in the opposition box that allowed Martin Skrtel to find space to give Liverpool a much needed early goal.

It was the first time Gerrard, Carroll and Luis Suarez started a game together leaving the skipper with nothing but kind words for his team mate.

He said: "He has been brilliant for weeks now. He's getting better and better the more he settles into the club. We were really pleased with him and I thought he was our man of the match.

"We believe that the more we play together, the more we'll click. We're all good players and good players like playing with other good players. We're all on the same wavelength now and it'll get better and better."

Liverpool’s talisman was happy with the teams mentality in not letting next week’s Wembley final affect their performance.

"It's always nice to first of all get the win and then to win convincingly," he said. "In the end we went through the gears and got better and better as the 90 minutes went on and we deserved our goals.

"The important thing was to focus on this game. The Carling Cup final was in our minds because we have a massive game at Wembley next week but we want to go to Wembley again in the FA Cup so today was just as important."

Progress ensures Liverpool a meeting with Stoke City in the next round but despite having home advantage Tony Pulis’s side will not be taken lightly.

Gerrard added: "It's not going to be an easy game. They came here in the league and were very resilient, defended really well. It was a tough game for us and we're expecting a similar game.

"Hopefully we can convert our chances this time and get to Wembley again - it would be fantastic for the supporters."