Rodgers Talks Up Promising Spanish Forward

Brendan Rodgers has lavished praise on Iago Aspas after the Spanish forward scored his first goal for Liverpool in their FA Cup match with Oldham at the weekend.

Aspas made the move to Liverpool from La Liga strugglers Celta Vigo last summer as Rodgers sought to increase the depth of his attacking options.

But so far the 26 year old has struggled to break into the first team as Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez go from strength to strength with the club.

But he was handed a chance by Rodgers in the FA Cup third round on Sunday and took full advantage of his time on the pitch, scoring the first goal of the game to put Liverpool in the winning position to take a 2-0 victory and progress to the next stage of the competition.

Rodgers believes that the performance was a sign of what's to come from the man who saved his former club from the relegation zone in the Spanish league last season.

"I thought the finish was an excellent finish, it was coming behind him and he had to swivel and keep it down with his weaker foot," Rodgers told the Liverpool website when asked about Aspas' debut goal.

"He showed in the box that he has got a finish on him; it was a very good finish. He worked very hard and it was nice for him to get his goal in front of the Kop. Goals are important for strikers.

"For him it has obviously been a long time coming but, in fairness to him, he hasn't had a lot of opportunities because of the qualities of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge when he was fit.

"It was nice for him to get the goal and I'm sure that will give him a big boost."

With Sturridge still yet to make his return to action due to injury Aspas may be gifted more chances to build on his debut goal and force his way into Rodgers' starting XI as the season progresses.