Brendan Rodgers hopes Daniel Sturridge's pace will give Liverpool a new dimension - particularly away from home.

The boss was full of praise for his team after they dismantled Sunderland during a 3-0 win on Wednesday.

Sturridge watched the game from the directors' box, and afterwards Rodgers was asked what the 23-year-old would add to the squad.

"He brings us another option, his pace and power," he said. "There are not many quicker than Daniel Sturridge.

"Sometimes in this league, if you're away from home and you haven't got that control or domination of the ball, then he is brilliant on the counter-attack.

"I've seen him, I've seen his qualities - pace, power, strength, goalscorer, left foot, right foot. But the biggest attribute we need at this club is players who are hungry to put on the shirt and make us better, and he'll give us that."

Liverpool are in eighth position in the Barclays Premier League following consecutive wins over the New Year.

Rodgers predicts further improvements from the Reds in the coming months.

"We finished off 2012 having made a lot of strides," he said. "Where we are in the table might not always reflect that but sometimes people only really analyse when a team wins. We've drawn a number of games this year and for me as a coach and manager looking at it, we've been growing all the time.

"There is still a long way to go, still a lot of development in the team, but I see it growing all the time."

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