Boss notes Aspas' finishing quality
Brendan Rodgers pointed to the goal with which Iago Aspas opened his Liverpool account on Sunday as a perfect example of the finishing ability the Spanish forward possesses.
Brought to Merseyside from Celta Vigo to deepen the striking options available to the manager, the 26-year-old served notice of his attributes with a quartet of conversions during pre-season.
He was forced to wait until the 2-0 victory over Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup third round at the weekend, however, to register a maiden competitive effort for the Reds.
Aspas' accurate half-volley into the far corner from a Raheem Sterling cross to the back post received generous praise from the boss, who expects an increase in confidence to follow.
The Northern Irishman told Liverpoolfc.com: "I thought the finish was an excellent finish, it was coming behind him and he had to swivel and keep it down with his weaker foot.
"He showed in the box that he has got a finish on him; it was a very good finish. He worked very hard and it was nice for him to get his goal in front of the Kop. Goals are important for strikers.
"For him it has obviously been a long time coming but, in fairness to him, he hasn't had a lot of opportunities because of the qualities of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge when he was fit.
"It was nice for him to get the goal and I'm sure that will give him a big boost."
When the fourth round draw for the FA Cup was made shortly before kick-off against Oldham, the Reds were handed an away trip to either Bournemouth or Burton Albion.
Rodgers anticipates a challenging contest from whichever side qualifies from their tie, but pledged that the club's immediate focus will return to the Barclays Premier League.
He added: "It will be a tough game; we'll play it the weekend before the derby. It's always difficult. When you go through into the next round, of course you always prefer the home draws.
"But wherever you go away from home, it will be a difficult game. We've got league games to focus on before that and then we'll take that later on in the month."