Gerrard: Sterling will shine

However, England skipper Gerrard does not want too much pressure to be placed on the 17-year-old's shoulders so that he can be allowed to develop as a player.

Sterling is unlikely to feature in the World Cup qualifier against Ukraine after being called up along with Southampton captain Adam Lallana and Tottenham midfielder Jake Livermore.

The trio are there as cover in case England suffer any more withdrawals after Theo Walcott was ruled out through illness and Daniel Sturridge is laid low with stomach cramps.

But Gerrard has no doubts that his Reds team-mate will eventually step up on to the international stage as a fully fledged international.

Gerrard said: "He is a fantastic talent, one of the shining lights at our club this year, even though results haven't been good enough.

"It is great for him to be called up and get a feel for the senior group because it won't be too long before he becomes a regular in this group. He is that g ood.

"He is a mature 17-year-old. There is nothing flash about him at all. He is a quiet kid. He works hard and listens and that is the key when you are that age and a good player.

"If you can listen and take advice from good managers and players, you will keep on progressing and improving.

"He is a breath of fresh air, especially for the older lads, with the pace and excitement he brings. He is a nightmare to mark for defenders."

But Gerrard also stressed: "Let's be patient with him. Let's not force it and expect too much too soon.

"Let it happen naturally and in time we will have a fantastic player for Liverpool and England.

"Of course, a lot more people follow the game, social media, and the impact of the Premier League is world wide. The expectations are high with young kids.

"It is different for the young lads now, there is a lot more pressure on them. It's important the people around them support them and give them the b ack-up they need.

"Just because you break into an England squad, or played a handful of games for your club, it doesn't mean you are the finished article.

"There is still so much improving and learning for these guys to do."

Livermore made his England debut against Italy in Berne last month but it is the first call-up for Sterling and Lallana.

England head coach Roy Hodgson said: "Their early performances for Southampton and Liverpool this year have been very impressive.

"Lallana is a player I've known about and watched even when Southampton were in the Championship because, as a club coach, he has been on the radar of players to watch and possibly attempt to buy.

"It is good he has confirmed what we have already thought, that he is a talent.

"With Raheem, in the past two years he has come on leaps and bounds and in the opening matches he has played this season, the reports on him have been very good.

"I shall make it c lear to him that I am not bringing him with a view to necessarily playing him now.

"I'm bringing in more because there might be a time in the future when not only does he feature as a substitute, he might even be breaking his way into the team."

Gerrard knows England will have to be on top of their game against Ukraine as they look to follow up the 5-0 win in Moldova on Friday with another victory.

He concedes England were fortunate to win the Euro 2012 clash between the two countries in Donetsk.

Gerrard said: "We need to build on the Moldova game, try and improve and keep learning. The performance was positive on Friday but tomorrow will be a bigger test.

"They are a group of players who have played together for a long time. Technically they are very good. If you stand-off these players, they can hurt you.

"There were times in the Euros when we gave them too much respect and stood off them and they had a few dangerous opportunities to score.

"Over the 90 minutes they could feel hard done by not to have got at least a point.

"But we won the game, did what we needed to do, and hopefully we can get the same outcome tomorrow."

Gerrard will win his 98th cap tomorrow tonight and could now reach the 100 mark against San Marino next month in the same match as Ashley Cole, who is currently side-lined with an ankle injury.

He said: "That would be a nice touch for both of us. But the important focus is to get to the World Cup.

"Individual achievements are always nice along the way but I'm more interested in the points tomorrow night."

Reggae Boyz eye Reds' Raheem

Sterling has enjoyed an impressive start to the season for Liverpool and has already been tipped to become a future senior England international.

However, the 17-year-old was born in Jamaica and Whitmore has confirmed interest has been shown in persuading the winger to play for the Reggae Boyz.

Whitmore believes Sterling, who has played for England Under 19s, has a lot to offer Jamaica if he decides to represent the country of his birth.

"We definitely showed an interest in Sterling before and we are just waiting on him now for the go-ahead," Whitmore told STAR Sports.

"We have seen him a number of times, he is a quality player with a lot to offer this programme, but it's up to him and the door is open.

"I don't want to go into any further details but as I said he is definitely someone we have our eyes on and it's all up to him now."

Sterling has enjoyed an impressive start to the season for Liverpool and has already be en tipped to become a future senior England international.

However, the 17-year-old was born in Jamaica and Whitmore has confirmed interest has been shown in persuading the winger to play for the Reggae Boyz.

Whitmore believes Sterling, who has played for England Under-19s, has a lot to offer Jamaica if he decides to represent the country of his birth.

"We definitely showed an interest in Sterling before and we are just waiting on him now for the go-ahead," Whitmore told STAR Sports.

"We have seen him a number of times, he is a quality player with a lot to offer this programme, but it's up to him and the door is open.

"I don't want to go into any further details but as I said he is definitely someone we have our eyes on and it's all up to him now."

Rodgers: Lesson learned for Reds

Criticism has been levelled at Fenway Sports Group following the failure to bring in a replacement after striker Andy Carroll was loaned to West Ham.

Rodgers admitted he would not have let the England international leave had he not been confident he could bring in a replacement but a deal for Fulham's Clint Dempsey fell through because FSG would not pay what they considered an inflated price.

That led to suggestions the manager had been undermined by the owners but he stressed he understood the situation when he took over in June.

"I've had long conversations with the owners," he said.

"I've got to say they have been very honest and very up front right from the off.

"I came here first and foremost because of the owners. I felt a genuine honesty in their approach to it and in how they wanted to go forward with the football club."

Rodgers, speaking at a forum with representatives of Liverpool fan sites and blogs, added: "Of cour se, the window didn't quite go to plan but going forward a great deal of learning has taken place.

"Every manager always wants more players but the reality of where the club is at there needed to be a little bit of surgery done on the squad.

"Some of the wages here were absolutely astronomical in terms of value and worth. That needed to be looked at.

"I knew there would be a wee bit of pain in the short term but hopefully for the longer-term gain.

"We finished up where we were at and now we have got to move forward as a football club and really have the one-club mentality."

Rodgers admits he is likely to have to buy in January, although he knows it will be tough to bring in the right players at the right price.

But in the intervening period he will have to draw on the resources he has - even if it means dipping into the reserve squad.

With so many players away on international duty the Northern Irishman has taken the opportuni ty to involve some of the club's promising youngsters in training sessions.

"I've tried to get around the youth team players, the reserve team players, and look at the level we have," he told liverpoolfc.com.

"First and foremost it's a chance for me to see the players working and see their improvements and try to help and guide them.

"They are trying to make steps up towards the first team and this gives them an opportunity to learn, and not just from the coaches.

"They come up here and train with Jamie Carragher, a guy who is in his 18th year as a professional.

"It is great for young players at 18 or 19 to see a guy who has been doing this work nearly as long as they've been alive and showing the same enthusiasm and commitment to want to learn and improve."

You can watch Rodgers' speaking to the fans' forum here, courtesy of The RedMen TV YouTube channel.

Shelvey stars for England U-21s

Liverpool midfielder Shelvey's first goal for the Young Lions followed Steven Caulker's third to send Stuart Pearce's men five points clear at the top of qualifying Group Eight with one match remaining.

That is on Monday against Norway, who needed to win in Belgium in Thursday's late kick-off and beat England in Chesterfield in four days' time to deny their rivals a place in next month's two-legged play-offs.

Today's victory was the Young Lions' sixth out of their seven qualifiers and saw Pearce hand a debut to Thomas Ince, son of former England star Paul, on an artificial pitch against opponents England had thrashed 6-0 a year earlier.

And after Javid Imamverdiyev went close for the hosts, in-form Blackpool winger Ince should have stolen the headlines when he screwed Marvin Sordell's cross wide on the turn.

England assumed total control and some delightful football saw Wilfried Zaha bamboozle the Azeri defence and fire into the side nettin g.

A series of corners then came to nought before Craig Dawson was booked in the 25th minute for exacting retribution on Rizvan Umarov after being caught himself.

But Dawson had the last laugh three minutes later when centre-back partner Caulker powered England ahead, the Tottenham man heading in Shelvey's left-wing free-kick.

Caulker should have made it 2-0 two minutes later when he glanced Ince's far-post cross wide before Azerbaijan goalkeeper Salahat Agayev produced some unconventional heroics to keep the hosts in it.

A goalmouth scramble saw him keep out Martin Kelly's deflected cross and deny Marvin Sordell before Zaha's follow-up was cleared off the line to muted penalty appeals.

Agayev then looked stranded after completely missing a cross but he recovered to produce an astonishing near-post save from Sordell, who looked certain to convert after Danny Rose kept the ball in play.

Caulker saw another header go to waste shortly b efore half-time and Zaha fired a good chance over shortly after the restart.

Azerbaijan, who had thrown on Orkhan Hasanov at the break, began to get a grip and, after some harmless long shots, they might have levelled on the hour mark when Imamverdiyev curled narrowly high and wide.

Pearce took immediate action by sending on debutant Ben Marshall for Zaha but the hosts continued to push.

Ben Amos - who had looked untroubled filling in for ill goalkeeper Jason Steele - saved from Araz Abdullayev, prompting Connor Wickham's introduction for Sordell.

The second change almost proved inspired as Wickham nodded Martin Kelly's cross wide but it appeared to have the desired effect as England kept their opponents at bay.

Mirhuseyin Seyidov's free-kick was easily claimed by Amos and Azerbaijan went for broke in the final 10 minutes with a double substitution of their own.

But it backfired seven minutes from time as Wickham nodded Caulker's lon g ball into the path of Shelvey, who volleyed emphatically beyond the onrushing keeper.

Clubs to discuss spending limits

The league's top executives have produced a discussion paper on financial controls for the chairmen to consider which could eventually lead to clubs being forced to break even every year - or face sanctions.

It would mean a serious blow to clubs such as Manchester City and Chelsea who have return significant losses in recent years.

There is strong support at other clubs for such controls - Wigan chairman Dave Whelan on Wednesday said measures to cut spending were needed urgently, while Manchester United originally sparked the move at the league's meeting earlier in the summer.

No decision will be made on any measures on Thursday - instead two groups of 10 clubs, each with clubs mixed up to reflect size and region, are to be formed to discuss the options in more detail.

Whelan's own club Wigan have also operated at a loss - the Latics returned a net loss for the year ending May 2011 of 7.2million - but even he is in favour of the controls.

Whelan said: "This proposal has come from Manchester United - I think City haven shaken them up a little bit - but I think there should be some controls on spending.

"Some clubs are spending way more than they can afford and get into trouble - look at Portsmouth.

"The Premier League is so big and powerful and there is so much money around that the clubs try and chase it. Something has to be done so we will support these measures."

United's chief executive David Gill has been one of the driving forces behind European clubs accepting UEFA's financial fair play rules for clubs in the Champions League and Europa League to only spend what they earn, and he wants the Premier League to follow suit.

The Football League have also introduced a similar system into the Championship and Gill believes the top flight should bring in similar measures.

Gill said last week: "A lot of clubs would be happy just to introduce the financial fair play regula tions into the Premier League now, some wouldn't, but that's a debate that has to have happened. And it will happen.

"If you look at it we've got financial regulations in the league below us, the Championship, and the competition above us, the Champions League, so we need to do it.

"The Premier League being the best league in the world, the most commercially effective league in the world, I think there's a real opportunity to introduce some sensible rules that effectively improve and enhance the long term or medium term financial stability."

At least 12 of the 20 top-flight clubs ended the 2010/11 season in the red with Manchester City's losses of 197million dwarfing even Chelsea's 68million and Liverpool's 49million.

Critics of financial fair rules argue that it will forever favour those clubs such as Manchester United and Arsenal who make a profit and rule out wealthy benefactors such as Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour putting money into clu bs.

Allen feeling settled at Anfield

Brendan Rodgers raided his former employers Swansea during the summer transfer window for Wales international Allen, with a 15million deal taking him to Merseyside.

The 22-year-old admits things could not have gone much better for him in 2012, with an impressive season with the Swans followed by an Olympic outing with Team GB and a big-money move.

He now finds himself lining up alongside the likes of Steven Gerrard on a regular basis, but is confident he can handle the added expectation being placed on his shoulders.

Allen said: "I'm loving every second here. It's very inspiring. When I look alongside me and Steven Gerrard is standing there, that's something you never would have dreamed of.

"As a kid and a budding footballer you look up and admire footballers like that. Having been in the Olympics and played alongside Ryan Giggs as well, it's been an incredible couple of months.

"But in all fairness, I think the most important factor has been the settling-in process. Every single player, every staff member at the club has made a massive effort in welcoming me with open arms.

"I have been able to concentrate purely on my football. I'm trying to become a sort of all-round player.

"And the only thing which gives me satisfaction is getting the results.

"At the end of the day, that's what it is all about. I'm as bad a loser as everyone else in that dressing room so I have got to do what I have got to do for the team and try to win football matches.

"No one's going to deny that there is pressure on footballers. It's a career we have chosen, though, and we all live with that.

"I said on the day I signed here I wouldn't do anything different to what I had been doing, which is give my all.

"That's all you can do. You have got to remember the reason we're playing this game is because we love it."

Rodgers must move on quickly

Rodgers had hoped to make late additions on the final day of the summer window but the deadline passed without any new arrivals.

A goalscorer had been top priority, particularly after club-record 35million signing Andy Carroll was allowed to join West Ham on loan, but nothing materialised.

A deal to bring United States midfielder or forward Clint Dempsey to Merseyside from Fulham had been hugely anticipated but talks broke down and the player signed for Tottenham instead.

Speaking before the deadline, Rodgers made clear he wanted another forward. "Absolutely," he said. "That was what I felt coming in from the off.

"I felt we needed to have greater threats in the team, not just one or two."

The failure to land Dempsey, who scored 23 goals mostly from midfield last season, leaves Luis Suarez and recent signing Fabio Borini as his only senior strikers. Back-up will come from youngsters Raheem Sterling and Adam Morgan.

With Charli e Adam and Jay Spearing also leaving the club, Rodgers thought he had cleared the way financially for extra recruits.

He said: "Sometimes it is not through choice. If it was carte-blanche and I could do what I wish maybe some of these players wouldn't be out of the door.

"But the reality is the finances always dictate how you can build and how you work with your squad.

"Unfortunately for where we are at, we have to rebuild. If that means one or two players going out to finance that, that is a decision we are going to have to make.

"It is now the job here at the football to reinforce the squad and make sure we bring in players that can help the group."

Despite the frustration, Rodgers will hope last week's creditable 2-2 draw against Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City can kickstart his side's season.

The Reds crashed to a 3-0 defeat at West Brom in their opener and they now host an Arsenal side who have made an indiffer ent start to their campaign.

The Gunners have drawn both of their games without scoring and their transfer window was noted more for departures than arrivals.

But Rodgers said: "It was always going to be a difficult start for us.

"Even though Arsenal haven't scored, they are obviously a multi-talented team. It always presents a difficult game.

"Performance-wise, if we play similar to last week and how we have played a number of times since I have been here, it sets us up well."

One new signing who will be available to Rodgers is Turkey midfielder Nuri Sahin, who arrived on a season-long loan from Real Madrid earlier in the week.

The 23-year-old was linked with Arsenal earlier in the summer but was enticed by the prospect of playing for new boss Rodgers, who is trying to establish a high-tempo passing game.

Sahin said: "I have spoken to many clubs before. When we decided with (coach Jose) Mourinho and Real Madrid that I would g o out for a year on loan, I had a lot of offers and I am really thankful to all the clubs that were interested in me.

"But in the end I chose Liverpool because I think Brendan Rodgers and the project of Liverpool is the best for me at the moment.

"When we spoke to Madrid they wanted me to play in the Champions League and I wanted also to play in the Champions League.

"But the project of Liverpool - they are a club that has to play in the Champions League every year - I think the challenge to bring Liverpool to the top four and the Champions League is quite good.

"That is a reason why I am here - the challenge is there and I take that challenge."

Sahin sampled the Anfield atmosphere during the compelling 2-2 draw with City and is now eager to get out on the field himself.

He said: "It will be a nice game. I would say the match against Manchester City was amazing and here, there will be two teams trying to play football.

"I thin k for the supporters in the stadium and the people who watch on television, it will be a great game. Both teams try to pass the ball."