Steven Gerrard: 'Stoke City win measure of Liverpool's improvement'

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard feels that the character they showed in beating Stoke City on Sunday was not in their armoury in recent seasons.

The Reds had let a two-goal lead slip by half time, but responded to record a 5-3 victory over the Potters and their first Premier League win at the Britannia Stadium.

Gerrard believes that resilience was not part of Liverpool's make up prior to the Brendan Rodgers era, and insists it demonstrates that they have the fight to secure Champions League qualification this term.

"If we'd gone 2-0 up there a few years back we'd have probably lost the game 3-2 after letting Stoke back into it," he told reporters. "The manager asked us at half-time if we had the character and bottle to go and win the game and we went and proved we can.

"I was wondering whether our character was going to come through and whether we could turn it back around again. We showed that and we went on to win the game emphatically. It goes to show how much we've improved and we have a bit more steel in the team.

"Results went against us on Saturday and that added to the pressure going to Stoke. I think everyone was looking for us to slip up, looking at Stoke's home form and people questioning our strength away from home, but I think we have proved to everyone we are right up for this fight for the top four."

Liverpool have not finished in the top four of the Premier League since the 2008/09 season.