"We were playing at Anfield and these are the type of games we should be winning," said the defender.
"We can't use Gerrard missing as an excuse for us not winning. We played more than a month without Torres and we kept on getting the results, so we've shown we can do it without certain players. We were able to handle it. And we should be able to do the same without Steven.
"Of course he is a fine player. He is approaching 10 years since his debut and he is very important for us.
"I have only been with him at Liverpool for a couple of years, but I know full well what he means to the club.
"I see him working every day in training, I see him leading the side on the pitch, and he is very, very special.
"Any side in the world would miss a player of Steven's ability and leadership. That is obvious.
"But again we should not use as an excuse the fact that he was not playing against Fulham. It is too easy a thing to say.
"We have won games without Steven before, and we have good enough players to come into the side when he is not playing and still be able to win games.
"Steven is a great player and is important for us. But we had a lot of good players with quality on the pitch against Fulham. We have a big squad and we need to use that."