Let me have a crack at Stevie G

HUNTER: Latics captain Dean Furman is desperate to challenge himself against Liverpool legend Steve Gerrard.

ATHLETIC skipper Dean Furman is keeping his fingers crossed that fit-again Steven Gerrard starts for Liverpool in tonight’s FA Cup third-round showdown.

While many with Athletic’s best interests at heart hope Kop boss Kenny Dalglish picks a weakened team, Furman and his colleagues in the midfield engine room would prefer to pit their wits against the England star.

Gerrard has recently returned from almost three months on the sidelines with an infected ankle and looks close to his best following a man-of-the-match cameo against Newcastle and another useful run-out at Manchester City.

Furman said: “Gerrard has been one of the best midfielders in the world for more than 10 years so it is exciting when the opportunity to face him presents itself.

“Some people might prefer to see him as far away from the action as possible in order to enhance our chances — but that theory doesn’t make sense because Liverpool’s squad is so strong.

“Even if Gerrard is on the substitutes’ bench they can still call on the likes of Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and Jay Spearing.”

Athletic winger Filipe Morais wants to swap shirts with the Liverpool captain at full-time — but he may have competition on his hands.

Furman added: “It won’t just be myself racing Filipe for Gerrard’s shirt, it is likely to be the whole team!

“But we are genuinely not thinking about things like that at the moment. The best momento we can get our hands on is a win for the supporters and the town.”

Despite his focused approach, Furman still found a few spare moments for one last dose of pre-match banter with set-piece specialist Adam, his former Glasgow Rangers team-mate.

“Preparations for this game have been quite intense so I didn’t get a chance to speak to Charlie.

“But I dropped him a text last night and hopefully I will get the chance to play against him tonight.

“We are going to have to watch out for him because alongside Spearing he is playing some good stuff.”