'Don't miss a chance to learn from him'
Brendan Rodgers hailed Steven Gerrard as the perfect role model for Liverpool's aspiring youngsters after watching his skipper come from the bench and spearhead the Reds' efforts to avoid FA Cup defeat at Oldham.
Gerrard's introduction, with 35 minutes remaining at Boundary Park, completely reinvigorated Liverpool's attempts to stay in the competition and almost pulled them level.
The 32-year-old's energy and ability paved the way for Joe Allen to halve the deficit with 10 minutes left on the clock before the skipper himself rattled Dean Bouzanis's crossbar in the game's dying embers.
"As the manager, losses like the one against Oldham give you even greater motivation to push on," Rodgers told reporters gathered at Melwood. "You learn things about players and people.
"If we are going to progress forward, we need to make sure that we have a group that is hungry in every single game - and that's why I have admiration for the likes of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.
"Look at Steven on Sunday. Take away his quality, just his sheer enthusiasm for the game absolutely flipped the match on its head. It was fantastic.
"But he does that every single day of his life. That's why he is a world-class player. The young players here at the football club will not have a greater role model to follow than him.
"They are in pole position to learn from him because they are seeing him every single day. If they are clever and bright enough, they will learn from him and hopefully they can be here for a long time.
"If not, they might find themselves playing in League One later on in their lives and will regret the opportunity they had to look at a world-class player every day and learn from him."
Despite his disappointment at the Reds' fourth-round exit, the manager remained confident that his players will be able to provide the perfect response when they travel to the Emirates to face Arsenal in the Barclays Premier League on Wednesday.
"We'll get the reaction that we would want," said Rodgers. "It was very disappointing against Oldham. This is a harsh school. This isn't a club where young players can come in and have lots of time to settle, this one of the biggest clubs in the world.
"So you need to understand that every game you play is a cup final and yesterday we had one or two who were too soft. Simple as that. If you want to have a career at a club like this, you have got to be tougher than yesterday.
"We have to have our foot to the floor in every single game. If we take our foot off then we'll struggle. The game yesterday provides more clarity and the fact that we need to make sure that our intensity is right, our concentration and our focus is right and when we do that we do have great quality in the group."
Looking ahead to the midweek clash at the Emirates, the boss set his sights on picking up a first victory over a team in the top half of the Barclays Premier League table.
Arsene Wenger's men are currently sixth, a point behind Everton and three clear of Liverpool.
Prior to their convincing 5-1 rout over West Ham last week, the Gunners had lost consecutive league matches to title-chasers Chelsea and before them Manchester City.
"We need to do better against the teams that are in the top half of the table. There's no denying that," insisted Rodgers.
"Lots of the teams feel that the home games are the real opportunities to win those big matches and a lot of our [games against the big clubs] came at the beginning of the season, when we were short of players and finding our way as a group.
"There's no doubt that in these big games, we want to do better in and it's something that we will strive to do.
"We'll arrive [at the Emirates] with clear motivation and appetite. We know that we have got two really big games this week [against Arsenal and Manchester City] and our only focus now is on those games."