The match came at the end of the traumatic week for Gerrard that saw him charged with assault and affray following an alleged nightclub incident.

He was initially booed by the home fans in the 24,046 Deepdale crowd, but he produced a tremendous personal performance that ended with him unselfishly creating the clinching second goal in injury time for substitute Fernando Torres, on his return from a hamstring injury.

Preston battled hard, saw a 'goal' disallowed and were denied a possible penalty for a foul on Jon Parkin by Jamie Carragher in an increasingly difficult second half for the Premier League leaders.

But Gerrard was coolness itself, and carried his team to victory. Sammy Lee, Liverpool's assistant manager and still standing in at media conferences for boss Rafael Benitez, was delighted with the club's captain.

He said: "Steven is a top professional, he has had the full support of this club, and you see what he is after that performance.

"He is a great footballer, he produced a terrific performance. Things have been written about him, but we know that he is a terrific professional, a model professional and this club will put all our support behind Stevie Gerrard.

"But he is a great servant for this club, a great ambassador and we will continue to support him throughout, he's a terrific guy."

Preston boss Alan Irvine may well have expected Gerrard to be rested in normal circumstances, but had no doubts about the 28-year-old's quality.

He said: "People said they were disappointed that Steven Gerrard was playing, and I suppose I was pleased initially to see Fernando Torres on the bench.

"But then again our lads have been excited ever since the draw, and that was because they wanted to play against Liverpool's big stars.

"It has been an education for them. For Sean St Ledger to be facing Torres was a great education for him.

"I knew Steven Gerrard would play well, he is fantastic, top class, and I knew he would do that. I have very rarely seen him do anything less than that."

Of the disallowed St Ledger header, and the possible penalty for a foul on Parkin, Irvine said: "I knew the linesman was flagging when St Ledger scored. Originally I thought it was offside, which would have been annoying.

"But I soon realised it was for a foul by Jon Parkin on Jamie Carragher, and I have no problems with that decision. Maybe he was wrestling to get to his feet first, but he did pull Carragher down.

"There was an incident between Carragher and Parkin, and there was a lot of movement of Jon's shirt at the time, but that happens a lot and you don't always get penalties. I was not jumping up and down about it."