Gerrard boosted by UEFA win

"It's what we've needed," said Gerrard. "We've worked on a few things and I think we can take that into Sunderland now.

The young midfielder was disappointed to be knocked out of the Champions League in the first phase, but believes the Reds can go on to lift the UEFA Cup.

"It was a big blow. We expected to reach the second phase as we did last year, but now we want to try and win this competition and have a good crack at the Premier League," he added.