Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Alan Navarro has admitted that Liverpool's Steven Gerrard was always the player he wanted to emulate ahead of a potential meeting between the two in the FA Cup fifth round match on Sunday.

The two trained together while both youngsters at Liverpool and each signed professional forms at similar times, but Navarro remembers how Gerrard was head and shoulders above the rest even at such a young age.

"I came through as a full-back but then they decided to try me in midfield and I played with Steven a few times," Navarro told LFC Weekly magazine. "It was a good thing but also a bad thing because you knew that you were going to be competing for a place with Steven.

"I trained with him every day for a few seasons and he's a quality player. If he plays against us, he's going to be a constant threat. Everybody knew what he was going to go on to do. He was always head and shoulders above everyone else.

"His football, his brain, his pace, his strength, the way he tackles; everything about him was brilliant. He was the player you wanted to be."

Gerrard has made 571 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 145 goals in the process.