Steven Gerrard says he needs more trophies to be a Liverpool legend

Steven Gerrard will join the ranks of Anfield legends on Saturday when he makes his 500th Liverpool appearance.

But even though the midfielder was yesterday hailed as one of the club’s all-time greats, he insisted he will ignore the accolades until he wins the trophies to back up such a massive statement.

The local boy made his debut for the Merseysiders 11 years ago against Blackburn – and he’ll reach his latest landmark against the same club.

Only 12 players now stand above him on the all-time rankings at Liverpool, and his Anfield coach Sammy Lee hailed it as a remarkable achievement in modern-day football.

But while Gerrard is proud to be mentioned in such high company, he admitted that it won’t mean too much unless there are medals to go with the records.

“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 explained.

“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.”

For many, Gerrard has achieved the near-impossible, by reaching the 500-appearance with one club.  Lee said: “These days it is so difficult to stay at the top with one club, and for him to be at a club like Liverpool for all those games is an incredible achievement.

“You have to be a special type of player and a special type of person to do that. The demands are incredible these days. Clubs like Liverpool, at the very top of the world game, are striving all the time to find even greater talent.

“That makes it so hard to stay there and keep developing. Steven has done that.”

Gerrard admits he never considered such a landmark when he started out against Blackburn 11 years ago – against the likes of Chris Sutton and Tim Sherwood.

For him back then, the only objective was to actually get a game for Liverpool and realise the burning ambition he had held since he was a seven-year-old kid.

“When you are such a young age you don’t look too far ahead – it has always been drummed into me by my dad and my coaches not to look too far ahead,” he explained.

“Honestly, at that stage when I started out, a career wasn’t even in my mind, because maybe you don’t think you’re good enough, or you dare not look ahead.

“But you just want one game, then a few games, and you can’t start thinking you’ve made it. Not ever.

“I never dreamed I’d get so many games, and it is a great feeling to hit that landmark.”

Steven Gerrard's greatest hits: The Liverpool captain's landmark games as he reaches 500 appearances this weekend