Jordan Henderson paid tribute to Daniel Sturridge after the striker netted two goals and provided an assist during Liverpool's scintillating 6-0 thumping of Newcastle United on Saturday.

In the absence of Luis Suarez, Sturridge fully justified his recall to the team with a fine all-round display, and his double strike took his tally to eight goals in 13 appearances so far for the Reds.

While praising the performance of the team, Henderson was also quick to acknowledge the role Sturridge played in the victory.

"Overall it was a great performance by the team," Henderson told Liverpoolfc.com.

"We were at them straight from the off and we scored some good goals as well, so we are over the moon.

"Daniel is a top player. I played with him before he signed for us with England U21s quite a few times so I know what he's all about.

"He's got great movement, he's got great technical ability and he's been brilliant since he came here."

It was Sturridge who provided the pass for Henderson's first goal and the England U21 captain then repaid the favour with an assist himself for the striker.

He added: "It was a brilliant pass from Daniel to find me. When you are through one-on-one you might think you will shoot yourself but he saw I was in a better position and he gave me the goal with a great pass.

"It was nice to repay him with a similar situation in the second half for Daniel's goal.

"It's always nice to score goals and to score it back in the north-east makes it a little bit sweeter. Hopefully I can carry on doing that now."

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Asked whether the display at St James' Park was his most complete performance to date in a red shirt, Henderson added: "I still feel I can improve in some areas but I'm enjoying my football at the moment.

"I've just got to keep working hard and just keep doing what I'm doing and help the team do well.

"It was important we finished this week on a high. It has been a bit chaotic but I thought the players handled it brilliantly and we put on a great performance today.

"We now look forward to the derby and we want to win for our supporters.

"We just want to win as many games as we can and finish the season on a high."

Liverpool's No.14 also expressed his delight at Fabio Borini registering his first top-flight goal in a red shirt on his return from injury.

He added: "Fabio has been out for a few months now and he has done really well to get back as quickly as he has so it was nice to see him get a goal."