Gerrard will have to accept lesser role

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will have to accept he has a reduced role to play at the club if he agrees to extend his stay beyond the end of his current contract, according to boss Brendan Rodgers.

The midfielder has featured in every Premier League match this season but Saturday’s victory over Stoke, when he was left on the bench until the final 20 minutes, was the first time he had not played the 90 minutes.

Gerrard was also left on the bench for Liverpool’s visit to Real Madrid in the Bernabeu last month and Rodgers admits that is something he will have to get used to if he is to remain at Anfield beyond this season.

“He’s at the stage of his career where it’s not so much the number of games he plays now, it’s about the level of the game — and that’s something I’ll always work with him and we’ll look at,” said the Reds boss.

“No matter how good a player has been, once they’re coming towards those final years of their career, then of course as a manager, you’re having to taper that in where you think you can get the best out of the player.

“He’s still a wonderful player. I’m sitting here talking about a player that has still got world-class talent, but of course, when you get that little bit older and maybe physically it’s not quite the same, you have to manage that.”

“It is managing the period of life he is in. That’s just purely the case of where we’re at.”

Gerrard could return to the starting line-up for tonight’s trip to bottom side Leicester.

The decision Rodgers has is where to play him as Lucas Leiva has done a decent job starting the last two matches against Stoke and Ludogorets, in the Champions League, in the defensive midfield role Gerrard has been occupying the last 18 months.

Meanwhile boss Nigel Pearson insists he will keep faith with his Leicester side despite slipping to the bottom of the Premier League after Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at QPR.

He said: “We’re in a position we don’t want to be in, of course.

“We have lost another game and need to rectify it pretty quickly. It’s a good game for us.”

David Nugent is a doubt with a sore calf and ankle while Dean Hammond and Matt Upson are set to miss out with calf and ankle injuries respectively.