'Thanks for making my job easy, Phil'
Daniel Sturridge fired a hat-trick against Fulham at Craven Cottage before expressing his sincere thanks to playmaker Philippe Coutinho for the role he played in Liverpool's 3-1 win.
The diminutive Brazilian set up the Reds' second before lofting a sumptuous pass in behind the Cottagers' back-four to provide Sturridge with a third.
And afterwards, Liverpool's latest hat-trick hero heaped praise on his abilities.
"Coutinho is a quality player," Sturridge told Liverpoolfc.com. "He's assisted me four or five times since he has been here.
"And it's fantastic to be playing with a player of his calibre.
"He's a quality player and I can't praise him highly enough for what he has shown. It's very difficult to do what he has done in such a short space of time.
"I want to say thanks to him because he's made my job very easy and he's been very unselfish. He's put me in many times and it's fantastic to work with him."
At 20 years of age, Coutinho's composure and poise has been a revelation since he made his full Liverpool debut against Swansea City in February.
Sturridge, just three years his senior, has impressed equally, racing to 10 goals quicker than any other player in the club's Premier League history.
"Coutinho is younger than me, so it's good to have somebody around that's hungry," added Sturridge.
"He's got a lot to prove, just like I have. We've both come from big clubs where we've not had an opportunity to play week-in week-out. So we're both hungry to show everybody what we can do."
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