Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has expressed his delight at opening the scoring in his side's 4-0 win over Fulham yesterday.

Skrtel hammered home a volley from Steven Gerrard's corner to set the Reds on their way to an emphatic victory, and the Slovakia international admitted that he had never scored one like it before.

The 28-year-old also believes that the victory will give his side a lot of confidence going into their match against Stoke City on Boxing Day.

"It was the first time I've scored a goal like that. Last time I scored was the Manchester City game. I'm happy I helped the team win this game and I'll try to do my best in the future as well," he told the club's official website.

"Before the game we said it was the last game at Anfield this year - so we wanted to win. We got the win and scored four nice goals. The first goal is always important because most of the teams coming to Anfield want to defend and stay back, then try to counter-attack. We got it today and the game was going easily - that was the key.

"In a lot of games we have played well and created chances, but couldn't take them. I'm glad we scored more than one today. It's great for the team's confidence. On Boxing Day, we go to Stoke so we'll try to bring the three points."

The result lifted Liverpool up to eighth in the Premier League table, just five points off third place.