Gerrard will improve now his future is sorted, says Benitez

Jul 14, 2005, 12:35 GMT

London - The best is yet to come from Steven Gerrard now that his long-future at the club has been sorted out, believes Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez.

The midfielder scored a hat-trick in Wednesday evening's Champions League first qualifying round tie against Welsh side TNS the give the European champions a comfortable 3-0 cushion going into the return leg.

"I think he'll be more consistent now that his mind is just on Liverpool," Benitez told Wednesday's Liverpool Daily Post.

"For him it was really important to play well in front of our supporters. They know he'll try to do the best for them.

"He did a good job. He's a key player and we'll build a team around Steven. That shows how important he is to us," said Benitez.

"I have a lot of confidence for his season because, with Steve really fit, we'll have a lot of options."

Earlier this month, the 25-year-old, who led his side to Champions League glory over AC Milan in May, initially said he wanted to leave the Reds and turned down a new 100,000 pounds (175,900 dollars) per week contract.

Chelsea moved in with a 32-million pound (56.3-million dollar) bid for Gerrard but the player made a subsequent U-turn and has since signed a contract, which will keep him at Liverpool until 2009.

Defending champions Liverpool were given special permission by UEFA to compete in this year's Champions League even though they only finished fifth in the English Premier League last season and therefore missed out on automatic qualification.