"It was nice to play my first competitive game at Anfield but at the end of the day the most important thing was to win," said the Republic of Ireland international.
"It doesn't matter whether it's my first game here or not, it's about winning and I've settled in well now so the match was all about getting three points on the board and we managed to do that.
"It was a frustrating game but they made it hard for us and you have to give credit to Middlesbrough. A lot of teams are going to come to Anfield and make it hard for us and get people behind the ball and that's what they did.
"They caught us on the break and it was a good strike from Mido, but I thought we showed a lot of character to get back into the game. That's what top teams do and we showed that desire with the two late goals."