The Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is proud to have become the 13th player in the history of the club to have reached 500 games played, but he thinks that it is much more important to have some trophies to look back on.

“It’s a really proud thing to reach milestones from a personal point of view – it’s a great feeling. But I’d like to think when I hang my boots up I’ll look back on prizes not personal milestones,” he said.

“As a player I never, ever think I’m in the top this or that. I do have a confidence now that I’m a good player, and that I can compete at a high level, but that’s it.

“It’s great to have these accolades, honestly, but it doesn’t mean much without prizes.

“Football excites me and the big prizes excite me even more for club and country. You want to win them all. I want to win what I can for Liverpool, and for England, and I’d love to look back at the end of it and feel as if I’ve achieved everything I can in that respect.”

Perhaps he will win the biggest prize of all with England next summer?