Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Gerrard Inspiring Henderson

Working alongside Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is acting as a learning curve for midfielder Jordan Henderson.

The England Under-21 international is still finding his feet at Anfield after his summer move from Sunderland.

He has made 22 appearances, 18 of which have been from the start and he has played the full 90 minutes in Liverpool's last eight matches.

However, he has still to rediscover the performances which prompted manager Kenny Dalglish to spend £16million to bring him to Anfield last summer.

But the return from injury of Gerrard, with whom he has played only 151 minutes this season, could provide a significant step forward.

Henderson provided the well-timed pass to pick out the captain's run from deep for the final goal in Friday's 3-1 win over Newcastle and is looking forward to linking up more regularly in the future.

"You learn things in training off different players and I have learned a lot from him in training and when he has come on in games," said the 21-year-old.

"There are some great players here who I try to learn from and Stevie is one of them.

"Of course I have to learn from players like that, but I have to concentrate on my own game and keep improving and hopefully Stevie will help me do that.

"I don't have to speak for how good he is; he is an outstanding player and everyone can see that on the pitch.

"He is an inspiration to everyone. You can see when he comes on he lifts the game and the whole atmosphere picks up.

"I think it shows how good he is that he can change games and he is a massive player for Liverpool.

"Whenever he is on the pitch he is a massive threat for opponents and it is a real plus for us that he is back."

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