KD on Craig, Stevie & Magpies win
Kenny Dalglish saluted the two-goal salvo of Craig Bellamy and admitted Steven Gerrard had been hugely influential from the bench as Liverpool eased to a 3-1 victory over Newcastle United.
The Welsh forward put the Reds in the driving seat with efforts in either half before the skipper capped an impressive cameo with the third, leaving the boss more than satisfied with his team's showing.
Speaking about the impact of the duo in his post-match press conference, Dalglish said: "It's not the first time we've praised him (Bellamy) and it certainly won't be the last. He took the first one well because it was tight in the area and the second one was a free-kick.
"The defender ran back on the line for some reason and Andy (Carroll) ran back with him. It went between the goalkeeper and the full-back. It was a good free-kick and may have gone in anyway. We are delighted for him. We just hope his cut eye isn't too bad. As he came off I just said congratulations to him."
On the subject of Gerrard's superb performance when he appeared as a second-half substitute in place of Charlie Adam, he said: "When Steven's not playing he's influential. So I suppose you can add the word hugely influential when he is in the team.
"He's getting back to fitness which is a fantastic reward for him and everyone who has worked with him; to get him back to the level he's at now. He'll continue to work on his fitness.
"He's always been a huge asset for the football club and he's got a lot of years to go yet and we'll look forward to that.
"I think we were pretty much in control anyway (before Gerrard's arrival). They had a bit of possession at the start of the second half without really threatening. But obviously, him scoring the third goal helped us."
He quipped: "He's put the pressure on himself now, scoring a goal but it's great to see him getting his reward. He's worked really hard to get where he is. It was a freak injury really, so the boy deserves a bit of luck in 2012."
The Reds had fallen behind to a 25th minute own goal from Daniel Agger but showed great character to respond and sign off 2011 with a richly-deserved triumph.
Dalglish was pleased with his team's overall display and hopes their run of bad luck is now behind them.
"I thought it was a fully deserved victory," he said. "We showed great courage, commitment and desire to get back into the game after losing a goal. We equalised, Martin (Skrtel) had a great clearance off the line and I think we deserved to win.
"It's probably the game where we've created the least chances as well, but we've scored three goals. It's funny how that happens.
"I'm not relieved, just satisfied that we got what we deserved. If we got what we deserved in every other (home) game and won the games drawn to have five more wins, I don't think it would have been unreasonable."