gerrard on the derby

27.3.06 LADS WERE HEROIC: GERRARD

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard heaped praise on his team-mates after his early red card in Sunday's Merseyside derby win.

Gerrard saw red in the 18th minute after two yellow cards in the space of 60 seconds but Rafael Benitez's troops quickly recovered their composure and ultimately cruised to a 3-1 win.

Gerrard, who will now miss Saturday's trip to West Brom, told the Echo: "The lads were all heroic, every one of them. I didn't want to get them in trouble, but they were brilliant.

"You wouldn't have known we had 10 men for so long. I can't praise them enough.

"They certainly made me feel better about things at the end."

He added: "I'm more disappointed with the first booking than the second one.

"The first one was just stupid on my part but for the second one I thought he was going to strike the ball and I just went into the tackle. Those challenges are part and parcel of derbies.

"It is not very often that I am the villain and I ended up watching the rest of the game on a TV monitor outside the dressing room because you are not allowed back outside when you have been sent off."

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