Henderson's happy to make his point

05 October 2014 21:46

Vice-captaincy is starting to sit a little more comfortably with Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson but he admits there will not be many repeats of him bellowing orders at Steven Gerrard.

Late in Saturday's 2-1 win at home to West Brom the Reds skipper received the ball deep on the right flank and was instructed by Henderson, several yards behind him, to keep it in the corner and see out the game.

Gerrard ignored him and tried to play in striker Mario Balotelli for what would have been the goal which finished the contest and while it did not quite come off the episode showed why Henderson has been identified to take over the armband once the club's talisman has retired.

"I don't think I'll do that too many times," said Henderson, who scored the winner after Saido Berahino's disputed penalty had cancelled out Adam Lallana's first goal for his new club.

"I was just telling him to keep it in the corner but I think he saw a pass to maybe score another goal.

"I learn a lot from Stevie. That was a pressure moment in the game and I thought we should keep it in the corner but to be fair it was a great pass into the box and we could have scored as well."

Henderson may be the captain elect but Gerrard is still the driving force in the dressing room, so when he was so outspoken after the disappointing Champions League defeat in Basle in midweek the players could not fail to take notice.

"He is our leader and captain and we look up to him but we knew as individuals we hadn't played well as a team or individuals," added the 24-year-old.

"You don't need anyone to tell you and we were sat in the changing room afterwards saying 'That wasn't good enough'.

"We all knew that we were far too soft away from home. We still should have got something out of the game and that is what we need to be better at."

It was why the victory over West Brom, Liverpool's first in four league matches, was so important with an international break coming up.

"It was important to get back to winning games and I thought we showed good character to go on and win the game, especially when it went to 1-1," added Henderson.

"It was a good three points and hopefully we can kick on now.

"I felt last week we did enough, we were better than Everton and should have won, but that's football - it's hard sometimes.

"We had to take than on the chin and it was important to get the win this week.

"It was an improved performance but I think our performances can be better - but the performance was good last week and we didn't get three points so this was all about the win."

Source: PA