Reds left to fill big gap at back

Liverpool 1 QPR 0

Local boy Carragher, who played 38 times for England in a career that spanned 16 years, will not be wearing the familiar 23 shirt when Brendan Rodgers’ side kick off their Premier League campaign in August.

Instead, the Bootle-born centre-half who became a firm Kop favourite, will be in his suit in a television studio, imparting his football knowledge to a new army of armchair fans as Sky’s newest pundit.