After a long period on the sidelines, Steven Gerrard returned to football action against Brighton in the League Cup, playing a cameo in Liverpool’s 2-1 victory in the third round of the Cup. With the comeback, Gerrard has vowed take every tournament seriously as he is desperate to bring trophies to Anfield.

Steven Gerrard vows to take every competition seriously after comeback from injury

After the match, the Liverpool skipper said, “For a club like Liverpool, we haven’t been to a major cup final for a long time, so we’ve got to take every cup seriously – especially when there’s no Europe – it makes it a little bit easier to put stronger sides out.

“Kenny’s assembled a fantastic squad and now we’ve got a couple of good players in every position, so even when he mixes it round or rests people we can still put a strong side out like you saw tonight.”

He added: “It’s drilled into you from a young boy when you play for Liverpool. It’s all about winning trophies and that’s the reason why we’ve got to take every cup seriously – that was the message from the manager tonight before we went out.

“We want to be one step closer to a major cup final and we’ve delivered tonight. As the captain I’d love nothing more than to get to Wembley with the lads and lift the cup.”

Gerrard, who won the Champions League for Liverpool in 2005 and the FA Cup in 2006, did not hesitate to speak about his frustrating injury lay-off, as he termed it a ‘nightmare’.

Gerrard continued, “It’s good to be back with the lads. It’s been a long time, too long really. It’s good to be out there in the kit again and nice to get a win as well.

“It’s been a nightmare. I’m not the best when I’m out injured and watching games. I’ve tried my best to attend most of the games to support the lads and try to be an influence when I’m still injured but it’s been tough.

“It’s been a rollercoaster the last six months but it’s behind me now and I’m looking forward to getting match fit now and back into the starting lineup.”

Adding about the impact of manager Kenny Dalglish, Gerrard said, “I’ve been really happy with what I’ve seen since Kenny’s come in. There’s been a lot of happy faces around the training ground, and the supporters are happy and I think 90 per cent of the performances have been fantastic.”

Tags: Brighton, Champions League, FA Cup, Football, Kenny Dalglish, League Cup, Liverpool, Steven Gerrard