Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers hailed the talents of captain Steven Gerrard, after he atoned for an earlier penalty miss to head in the winning goal in a 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers.

The 34-year-old, usually so confident in his penalty-taking abilities, saw Roberto Green palm away his spot-kick after a poorly taken penalty in the 79th minute.

The Reds had enjoyed more of the game and led thanks to Philippe Coutinho's neat first-half finish, before Leroy Fer's 73rd minute volley from QPR's free-kick threatened the hosts.

But despite missing the penalty, Gerrard rose highest to flick Philippe Coutinho's header towards the far corner with just three minutes left to give Liverpool their first three points in three games.

With the well-taken header, Gerrard moved ahead of Robbie Fowler in the club's all-time goalscoring list - notching his 184th in his second to last Anfield display.

Rodgers admitted his delight at the Liverpool skipper's winner, having kept him on the pitch because he knew the midfielder was capable of producing the goods.

"It's world class talent," Rodgers said. "There's a very, very small group of players in that bracket where in the big games they score the big goals and they make the big contributions.

"Everyone has seen that throughout his (Gerrard's) entire career at Liverpool - he missed a penalty and sometimes you think it may go against us but there's no else more determined to score than Steven. It was a very good header.

"It's brilliant to get it at the Kop end, it's a real special moment for him, you can see he's still at this level, he's still contributing.

"I had people behind me, shouting to get him off - but this is a guy [who] when he missed a penalty, I knew if you keep him on, you have every chance of a goal, and he steps up to the plate."

The goal was met by sheer jubilation at the Kop end, as supportes relished what might be Gerrard's final goal at the iconic ground before he leaves for LA Galaxy later this month.

Replacing the long-standing Liverpool captain is an impossible task, admits Rodgers - who believes the club will sorely miss his influence on and off the pitch.

"You cannot replace him," the Northern Irishman continued. "He's getting on in age a wee bit now but in terms of quality, sheer quality as a football player, there's not many in our team who can level that.

"That's with all due to respect to the others, who are a great bunch of boys, good lads, honest and finding their feet.

"Young Philippe Coutinho is a wonderful technician, and there are one or two more players, but this is a guy who at their age was arguably the best midfield player in European football.

"And still now, he's contributing. An incredible talent and it will only be when he's gone people will recognise what a sheer talent he is."

Liverpool were helped by Nedum Onuoha's rash challenge on Jordon Ibe, which brought him a second yellow-card in three minutes having been guilty of hauling down Martin Skrtel for the penalty, and reduced Chris Ramsey's side to ten men.

It kept alive brief hopes of Champions Legaue qualification after Manchester United lost at home to West Bromwich Albion, but four points off of their arch-rivals with three weeks to go - the odds are unlikely.

Nevertheless, Rodgers was pleased with what he saw on Saturday afternoon, despite insisting that had the Reds been in better spirits - the full-time score could have read convincingly more in the home side's favour.

"We can see the confidence is a little affected," Rodgers added. "Certainly the belief is still there in the players and you can see how hard they're working but obviously a wee bit more confident we could have won three or four nil with the chances we created.

"We made it tough for ourselves but we responded brilliantly once we drew level."