It took the Reds an hour to break the deadlock at Anfield but Gerrard's clever run and finish was followed by further goals from Fernando Torres and Andriy Voronin before Roque Santa Cruz pulled one back in injury time.

Gerrard told Sky Sports: "It's a really proud day to clock up that many games. It's a great day, a good performance, we're just disappointed with conceding late on.

"Blackburn were very good defensively, we had to be patient but eventually the opening came."

Gerrard and Torres have now scored more than 50 goals between them this season, and the skipper paid tribute to the Spaniard's impact since his move from Atletico Madrid last summer.

"He's a good player, he makes good runs and he's a pleasure to play with," Gerrard added.

"To get 30 goals in his first season is unbelievable and I'm sure he's got a few left."

Victory took Liverpool five points clear of city rivals Everton in the race for the final Champions League spot after the Toffees could only draw with Birmingham yesterday.

"It was important to make it five points," Gerrard said.

"It's going to be a good chase but we're confident we can achieve fifth place."

Liverpool have been in the news for the wrong reasons this week after co-owner Tom Hicks called for chief executive Rick Parry to resign, and Gerrard admitted his disappointment at the publicity.

"We're Liverpool Football Club, we're better than that," he said.

"But we (the players) have got more important things to worry about."

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Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez revealed he will be talking to the board "as soon as possible" and expressed his "surprise" at the public nature of the row.

"I was surprised it was something I could read in the press," he said.

"I will talk with the board, I think it's important for me to try to understand the situation."

Benitez was pleased his players kept working to get the breakthrough and was not surprised by the names on the scoresheet.

"We knew that it would be tough so we needed to keep going, keep working," he told Sky Sports.

"At half-time we told them to keep playing football because we knew we could score but also we knew it could be difficult.

"The understanding between Gerrard and Torres was, at the end, the key."