Gerrard: Suarez’ Hat-Trick Saved Him from Rollicking

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said he was prepared to give team mate Luis Suarez a tounge-lashing after seeing the controversial Uruguayan striker shoot at goal from 45 yards away during his side's 3-0 league win over Norwich City on Saturday.

Fortunately for Suarez, he scored.

The forward had scored twice before the break and went into the second half looking for his hat-trick. The third goal was an audacious chip from almost the halfway line and Gerrard admitted his initial reaction at seeing him shoot from that distance was unhappiness; he added he would have preferred seeing him dribble closer to goal after Liverpool caught Norwich on the break.

"That's the type of player he is, but I still had confidence he could get the third. It was just on the tip of my tongue to give him a b******ing but then he did that," ESPN quoted the Reds' skipper as saying.

"He's a special player, his movement's first class and it makes my job as a midfielder easier alongside him. He's a top player, one of the best in the world on his day, and today was his day. It was great finishing and we as a team could have had more,'' he added.

The Reds face Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday in the FA Cup final but Gerrard insists that the club has got to focus on the midweek game at Craven Cottage first.

"We've got to beat Fulham (on Tuesday) first, we'll take each game as comes and we want to go into the cup final in good form. We're excited, we've done really well in the cups this year and we deserve to be in the final but it would be silly and naive to focus on the final with league games to come,'' the 31 year old said.

Meanwhile, Reds boss Kenny Dalglish praised his side's performance in the win over Norwich. Although Suarez was undoubtedly the star of the show with a fine hat-trick, the manager refused to single out any particular player in the victory.

"We've played like that plenty of times this season. There have been games where we've played even better and come away without anything. It is even more credit to them that they keep going out there and believing in their ability. There were three great goals for us today," Reuters quoted Dalglish as saying.

Liverpool have 49 points from 35 games now and are just two points behind local rivals Everton in the league table.