Rodgers lauds Suarez after Cardiff display

The Uruguayan scored a stunning volley to open the scoring, set up Raheem Sterling for the second goal and grabbed the third for himself before the break.

Suarez has now scored 19 goals this season and 29 in the calendar year, with his latest strikes helping Liverpool move top of the Premier League table.

Rodgers is understandably delighted with the performances of his star player, who signed a new long-term contract at Anfield on Friday.

"He's doing his job to a really high level; his job is to score create goals and he's doing it consistently week-in, week-out," said the Liverpool manager.

"For me, having worked with him for a while, he's got an in-built brain for football; his anticipation, where the ball is going to be, where it's going to drop - he's exceptional.

"He showed his selfless side, too, squaring for Raheem to score."

Despite his side climbing to the league's summit, Rodgers insisted the focus would remain on taking each game as it comes.

"We will let everyone else speak about ourselves," he said. "We're concentrating on improving our game and performance levels.

"People will talk us up, talk us down. It's irrelevant for us. We'll just concentrate on our game."

Suarez declared his delight at penning a new deal but played down the significance of his role as captain in Steven Gerrard's absence.

"I am so happy with the new contract but I was totally focussed on today," he said. "We played well first half and not so much in the second but it was important that we won.

"The responsibility is for the team to play together. We have one captain here, that is Stevie. We try our best without him. When we play together it is more important than who is captain."