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• Defender accepts that the form of others is keeping him out
• ‘You have got to be professional and wait for your chance’

Jamie Carragher has said he has no complaints over losing a regular first-team role at Liverpool under Kenny Dalglish but insists his desire to play remains as strong as when he made his debut for the club in 1997.

Carragher, who turns 34 later this month, made his first league start since October in Saturday’s goalless draw against Stoke City having initially lost his place through injury, and subsequently the impressive form of Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger. The Liverpool vice-captain had rarely featured on the bench until this season but insists the team’s form in his absence, with Liverpool boasting one of the strongest defensive records in the Premier League, has made the transition easier to accept.

“Of course you want to play and the manager wouldn’t expect anything else but the lads are playing well,” said Carragher. “When I have been playing over the years and doing well, someone else has had to sit on the bench for me. The roles have reversed now and you have to show respect to the manager, the club and the players playing in my position. I appreciate that. The club have done a lot for me over the years. I am not going to say anything or cause any trouble just because I am not playing. You have got to be professional and wait for your chance. When it comes, you have got to do as well as you can.”

Dalglish revealed last week that an ambassadorial role awaits Carragher at Liverpool should he follow Steven Gerrard’s path when his playing career ends. The Bootle-born defender is giving no thoughts towards retirement, however.

Carragher added: “I am no different to anyone else. I have been out the side for a while and understandably so. The lads in my position and the whole team have been doing great. It was just nice to put the red shirt on and play at Anfield again on Saturday. It is something that I have wanted to do since I was 18 and nothing has changed now I’m nearly 34. But the lads have been doing great and I understand the situation.”

Jamie CarragherLiverpoolAndy Hunter
guardian.co.uk

• Manager wants captain to play into late 30s
• Gerrard says he will only ever play for Liverpool

The Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish, has said that the club’s captain, Steven Gerrard, could continue playing well into his late 30s. The England midfielder, who will be 32 in May, signed an extension to his existing deal on Thursday and has said that he wants to play beyond his current contract.

Gerrard has recently been dogged by a groin problem, which required surgery, and then an ankle infection. Dalglish said: “You have to wait and see how they get through injuries. Ryan Giggs is 38, isn’t he? That’s seven years down the line – that’s a long time to predict – but if he’s fit there’s no reason why not. I’ve not got a crystal ball. I’m just delighted he’s done what he’s done and we have got him here.”

Dalglish is widely thought to have been Liverpool’s greatest player but he said Gerrard should come into the reckoning.

“I wouldn’t disagree, he has certainly made a huge contribution to the club but he wouldn’t be far away from being mentioned as the best player,” Dalglish said. “It is not just what he does in and around the first team, it is what he stands for the football club as well – which is more important. His standing within the community is fantastic and the way he does other work happily is a great testimony to himself as well.”

Gerrard refused to sign a new contract until he had returned to playing and could prove his problems were behind him.

“I was down in the dumps at the time and for them to offer me the contract extension was the boost I needed,” he told the Liverpool Echo. “Everyone at the club supported me so well. I agreed the extension a long time ago, I was always going to sign it, but I told them I wanted to wait until I had proved my fitness. I didn’t think it was right to sign when I was out injured. I wanted to wait until I was back out there and had shown people that the injuries were all behind me.”

Gerrard continued: “I can only see myself playing for Liverpool Football Club now. I’m very flattered that the club have offered me the chance to stay on after my playing days. Hopefully I can stay involved with the club and set the right example for youngsters coming through but that ambassadorial role may have to wait for a while. There’s still a great deal I want to achieve as a player.”

Gerrard will lead the team out at home to Stoke on Saturday. Asked what he had learned from two matches against Tony Pulis’s this season, Dalglish said: “If you don’t score any goals, you don’t get any points if you lose one at the other end.

“Every team brings a different problem and we have to deal with the problems we anticipate they’ll bring. But they’ve also got to deal with our strengths and we’ve got a lot of them.”

After Gerrard and the Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini, confronted each other about a Glen Johnson tackle in midweek, Dalglish said he was looking for consistency from referees.

“The discussion is not about one person’s tackle against the other, it is about consistency and interpretation of tackles,” he said. “There are always going to be inconsistencies and human error but there are laws within the game which are as clear as mud.”

Kenny DalglishSteven GerrardLiverpoolguardian.co.uk

• Deal done less than 24 hours after Carling Cup semi-final
• Gerrard also agrees future ambassadorial role with club

The Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has committed his future to the club by signing an extension to his contract.

The 31-year-old England international finalised the deal less than 24 hours after scoring the only goal in Liverpool’s 1-0 Carling Cup semi-final first leg victory at Manchester City.

He told the club’s website: “I’m very happy. It’s a very proud day for myself and my family. This is the club I love and is the club I have supported since I was a young boy.

“I am living the dream as the captain of one of the biggest clubs in the world. I love coming to work every day and the experiences I have had since I was eight years of age and first signed for the club, I wouldn’t change them for the world. To extend that and to hopefully have some more good times in a red shirt is what I want.”

Gerrard has also agreed to take up an ambassadorial role with the club when he retires as a player.

“It’s really flattering for me that the club have offered me the chance to stay when I eventually hang my boots up,” he said. “Hopefully that will be in many years to come because I want to play for as long as I can.”

Steven GerrardLiverpoolguardian.co.uk