Steven Gerrard won the Uefa Cup with Liverpool in 2001 Photo: Back Page Images

Steven Gerrard is convinced Liverpool can recover from a 2-0 loss to Zenit St Petersburg when the Russian side travel to Anfield for the second leg of their Europa League last-32 tie next week.

Luis Suárez endured a miserable 90 minutes by the South American’s high standards, with the striker missing a series of first-half chances in Russia.

And Liverpool were made to pay for being wasteful when Hulk struck a venomous long-range strike to given the home side the advantage with 20 minutes remaining.

Sergei Semak then produced a close-range finish to double Zenit’s lead and leave the Reds on the brink of a European exit.

“We’re obviously down. On the back of two defeats, it’s a difficult moment but we need a reaction,” Gerrard said.

“We’ve got a big game in a couple of days against Swansea and we need to bounce back.

“Up until the 70th minute against Zenit, the game was under control. It was a tough night in tough conditions. We’re disappointed with the two sloppy goals we conceded, but the tie is not over.

“If anyone can pull it back, it’s us.”

The Liverpool captain also believes that home support at Anfield could prove crucial and swing the tie back in the Merseyside outfit’s favour.

“We’ll have an advantage with our supporters,” he added. “If they can create the noise they’re capable of, get behind the team and we can get an early goal, it’s game on.

“But we are disappointed. It wasn’t the result we wanted – we wanted an away goal and to try and sneak away with a clean sheet, but if you concede sloppy goals, you get punished and that’s what happened.”