Jamie Carragher admits he looked up to Liverpool's former captain Paul Ince when he was beginning his Anfield first-team career.
But Carragher will be aiming to heap more woe on the Blackburn boss when Liverpool visit Ewood Park on Saturday intent on maintaining their slender hold on the Barclays Premier League summit.
Carragher made his Liverpool debut a few months before Ince joined the club from Inter Milan in 1997.
He said: 'Paul was one of the players in the team when I first started and he was a great help to me.
'He gave me a lot of advice and he was someone I looked up to when I started to become a footballer. Hopefully he does really well, after Saturday.'
Ince is going through a tough baptism in Premier League management, with Rovers in the relegation zone as well as being knocked out of the Carling Cup quarter-finals at Manchester United on Wednesday.
But Carragher and Liverpool cannot afford to be sentimental over his former captain's plight.
Having only drawn 0-0 at home to West Ham on Monday, Liverpool have just a one-point lead over Chelsea at the top of the table.
That setback means they cannot afford to slip up at Ewood Park, where they have more than 7,000 fans - their biggest away allocation of the season.
Carragher says: 'We normally take a good crowd to Blackburn, which is virtually a local game for us and hopefully we can get a good result.
'They have had a few bad results lately and it is the type of place that we normally do okay. Hopefully that will continue.'
Liverpool will also have reunions with old boys Stephen Warnock and Robbie Fowler.
Striker Fernando Torres is still out with a hamstring injury, and after visiting a specialist in Spain this week, he may not play again until after the Christmas programme, the initial tentative comeback date had been the visit to Arsenal on December 21.
That means Robbie Keane will continue up front, intent on improving a scoring record of just two goals in his last eight appearances.
Javier Mascherano and Daniel Agger, both rested against West Ham, are expected to return.
But Carragher will be aiming to heap more woe on the Blackburn boss when Liverpool visit Ewood Park on Saturday intent on maintaining their slender hold on the Barclays Premier League summit.
Carragher made his Liverpool debut a few months before Ince joined the club from Inter Milan in 1997.
He said: 'Paul was one of the players in the team when I first started and he was a great help to me.
'He gave me a lot of advice and he was someone I looked up to when I started to become a footballer. Hopefully he does really well, after Saturday.'
Ince is going through a tough baptism in Premier League management, with Rovers in the relegation zone as well as being knocked out of the Carling Cup quarter-finals at Manchester United on Wednesday.
But Carragher and Liverpool cannot afford to be sentimental over his former captain's plight.
Having only drawn 0-0 at home to West Ham on Monday, Liverpool have just a one-point lead over Chelsea at the top of the table.
That setback means they cannot afford to slip up at Ewood Park, where they have more than 7,000 fans - their biggest away allocation of the season.
Carragher says: 'We normally take a good crowd to Blackburn, which is virtually a local game for us and hopefully we can get a good result.
'They have had a few bad results lately and it is the type of place that we normally do okay. Hopefully that will continue.'
Liverpool will also have reunions with old boys Stephen Warnock and Robbie Fowler.
Striker Fernando Torres is still out with a hamstring injury, and after visiting a specialist in Spain this week, he may not play again until after the Christmas programme, the initial tentative comeback date had been the visit to Arsenal on December 21.
That means Robbie Keane will continue up front, intent on improving a scoring record of just two goals in his last eight appearances.
Javier Mascherano and Daniel Agger, both rested against West Ham, are expected to return.
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