Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers was delighted with Danny Sturridge's goalscoring debut in their FA Cup win over Mansfield Town.

Asked about the debut performance of Sturridge, the boss declared his pleasure at the 23-year-old's showing and backed the striker to shine further as his fitness improves.

The Northern Irishman said: "I thought he was excellent. He's nowhere near fit yet, he's come in off the back of an injury and hasn't done a lot of training. I think you saw in that cameo today of 55 minutes his pace, his power and he scored a good goal.

"He probably could have had three goals. It was a good introduction for him, a tough one because Mansfield were very committed. He got his goal and that will give him confidence - he'll look to keep scoring."