The Liverpool captain has added to the winger’s growing list of admirers and urged him to keep “believing in himself” as he looks to earn a place in England’s World Cup squad

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has admitted he tries to avoid team-mate Raheem Sterling in training.

Sterling has scored five goals in 21 Premier League appearances for the Anfield outfit this season, earning plaudits for his recent displays.

And Gerrard believes the best is yet to come from the 19-year-old and urged him to continue listening to advice from his peers and maintain the confidence in his performances.

“He is the toughest in our squad,” the skipper told the club’s official website. “I don’t go near him in training because if I do, there is only one winner.

“He just needs to keep learning and listening to Brendan Rodgers and the experienced players in the dressing room and believing in himself. If he does that, he’ll be all right.”

With Roy Hodgson beginning to mull over his England squad for the 2014 World Cup, national team skipper Gerrard feels Sterling can force himself into contention.

“He has been in great form over the last couple of months and I’m sure Roy Hodgson is watching him very closely,” he continued.

“His form of late has been sensational and if he continues that until the end of the season, we will see him at the World Cup.

“Now he just has to get that consistency in his game. If he gets that consistency, he is going to be a frightening talent.”

The former Reds striker says the official should be kept away from officiating Brendan Rodgers’ side after failing to award Luis Suarez a penalty in the FA Cup defeat to Arsenal

Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge says that referee Howard Webb should never officiate a game involving the club again after a controversial call in the Reds’ 2-1 FA Cup fifth-round defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.

With the visitors trailing 2-0, Webb awarded a penalty to Liverpool when Luis Suarez was felled in the area by Lukas Podolski, but shortly afterwards he failed to award a second spot-kick when the Uruguay international was seemingly barged over by Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain.

It is not the first time this season that Webb has been at the centre of controversy when officiating the Reds, who were aggrieved that Suarez was denied a penalty after colliding with Samuel Eto’o in December’s 2-1 defeat at Chelsea – and Aldridge believes that Webb is continuously costing Brendan Rodgers’ side in vital games.

Writing in his column in the Liverpool Echo, he said: “He [Webb] cost us [against Arsenal]. I was still angry about Howard Webb’s woeful decisions from the Chelsea game in December.

“I was still furious that he didn’t award a penalty when Luis Suarez was brought down in the area – and seething that he failed to send Samuel Eto’o off for a career-threatening tackle on Jordan Henderson.

“So the events of Sunday afternoon at the Emirates Stadium left me raging. Webb gets too many big decisions wrong.

“He gave us a penalty when Suarez was clipped by Lukas Podolski but then, for reasons nobody in the country can understand, he failed to award a spot-kick when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain clattered into Liverpool’s number seven.

“It was more of a penalty than the one he gave! I thought Brendan Rodgers showed real restraint and composure to describe the incident as mildly as he did, especially on the back of the Chelsea debacle less than two months earlier.”

The Liverpool boss called the tackle a “blatant penalty” while Reds captain Steven Gerrard labelled it a “stonewall” spot-kick, and Aldridge wants to see Webb kept away from Liverpool games for good.

“How many of these wrong decisions does Webb have to make before action is taken?

“For a start, he should never referee a Liverpool game ever again. The Reds can go back in the archives and use a long list of games to help state their case.

“When he refs us, we do not get the big, big decisions and with Liverpool chasing at least the top four, we must hope he does not officiate our games between now and the end of the season.”

The on-loan Valencia defender was injured in his first Anfield game and his ability on the ball has been criticised in some quarters, but wants to succeed for Brendan Rodgers

Liverpool left-back Aly Cissokho acknowledges that he is not the kind of player who is universally popular, but has vowed to keep working hard during his time at Anfield.
The Frenchman has been a regular for the Reds since the turn of the year, but has attracted some criticism from some pundits, including former Reds striker Michael Owen, for his use of the ball and his attacking contribution.

And while he admits he rarely pleases everybody, he is focused on proving his worth until the end of the season when a decision will be made regarding a possible permanent switch from Valencia.

“I usually fail to win unanimous support,” he told L’Equipe. “I let people make their own opinion and I give everything on the pitch.

“My goal is to do as much as possible for Liverpool, enjoy every minute, and we’ll see what the future holds.”

Cissokho made his debut at Villa Park on August 24, but on his Anfield bow just three days later he picked up an ankle injury which forced him off after just 10 minutes and kept him out of action for six weeks.

It was a mixed night for the 26-year-old, who admits he was full of emotions after hearing Kop anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ before kick-off that night against Notts County.

“The song had made its mark on me when I was a kid,” he added. “It was beautiful, extraordinary. The first time I heard it with the red jersey on my back I felt a lot of emotions. I thought about the path I had taken, all those years working hard to achieve my dream.

“After five minutes, from a tackle, my ankle turned. It was a big sprain. The most significant injury of my career, at the worst time. A piece of cartilage had moved and I had to have surgery in London. It was a very difficult time. I was scared. The operation delayed my adaptation.”