TOM Huddlestone confesses to having three footballing idols growing up. There was Marcel Desailly, inspirational leader of a Chelsea side he supported as a boy, and Eric Cantona, who he believes changed the history of the Premier League like no other.
And then there was – and perhaps still is – Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard.
As the Reds' midfield talisman for the last decade and more, Gerrard has earned the unwavering admiration of Huddlestone ahead of their meeting at the KC Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
"He's got everything," said Huddlestone in an appraisal of his one-time England team-mate.
"He's quick, he can head the ball, tackle, he's one of the best passers around and he scores goals. There's been times when he's single-handedly won games for Liverpool in the league and in Europe.
"He's been a great captain and role model for any player growing up.
"It'll be a good test. Week in, week out, you're going to face top-class players, and Gerrard has been one of those for the last 15 years.
"Growing up, him, Cantona and Desailly were my three idols. I'm under no illusions about how big a test it will be."
Huddlestone was 11 when Gerrard was making his Liverpool debut in 1998.
Over 600 appearances have followed at Anfield, not to mention 109 England caps.
The 33-year-old's 100th cap was coincidentally ended against Sweden last November when replaced by Huddlestone, the last of the City midfielder's four international appearances to date.
If City's £5.25m club record buy still has ambitions to be following Gerrard to Brazil next summer, it is days like tomorrow that can stamp his ticket.
Asked how he planned to limit Gerrard's influence, Huddlestone joked: "Man-mark him with three players. You can't highlight one or two players. They've got an unbelievable team full of internationals.
"It's going to be difficult, but if we stick to the game plan the manager gives us, hopefully it'll work well.
"You just have to have the belief in yourself and your team-mates that you can go out and put a good performance on, and do our job to the best of our abilities.
"We know that, man for man on the pitch, we've got to be better than them."
City, and tellingly, Huddlestone, have fallen short of that in recent weeks. The 26-year-old is undeniably the closest thing to Gerrard that City boast and when he fails to spark, so invariably do the Tigers.
Regrettably, that has been the case in defeats to Southampton and Crystal Palace that leave City aiming to avoid a third straight loss against a Liverpool side riding high in second.
The Tigers can at least take heart from past fortunes against the Premier League's big boys.
With Huddlestone to the fore, both Manchester City and Tottenham were matched before harsh defeats.
Huddlestone said: "You've got to stay focused for 90 minutes. In the City game we played well and created chances but they got two late goals.
"I think we've just got to stick to the game plan and hopefully put one of our chances away.
"Being underdogs has helped us so far this season, so hopefully tomorrow will be no different. When teams are more open against us, attacking wise that's when we're at our best.
"Hopefully Liverpool will attack us and it'll leave a few more gaps we can try to exploit."
The Reds' visit to the KC Stadium begins the busiest month of City's campaign. As well as further home games with Stoke, Manchester United and Fulham, trips to Arsenal, Swansea and West Brom promise to have a sizeable bearing on City's mood heading to Anfield for the return fixture on New Year's Day.
City's excellent start to the season retains a modicum of comfort in 13th, but Huddlestone is well aware that will soon diminish the longer they remain on 14 points.
"Having lost two games, we don't want it to be three and then have to go to the Emirates. We need to get some form of result tomorrow," he said.
"The manager spoke after the game and then on the training pitch at the start of the week.
"We have started the season fairly well. Hopefully, it's just a slip and not a complete dip in form. We've got a chance to put it right and get it out of our system.
"Liverpool and Arsenal are as tough as it comes, especially the way they've both started the season.
"Arsenal have been flying and so have Liverpool. It is going to be difficult, but these are the sorts of games you want to be in the Premier League for.
"We've got to go into them with excitement but with confidence as well."
That may be easier said than done after a sobering passage of the season at the KC.
A 4-1 loss at Southampton, City's last away game before the international break, was the first time Steve Bruce's men had been comprehensively undone, while last weekend's 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace saw a five-game unbeaten home record feebly surrendered.
A week of soul-searching has followed, but Huddlestone's faith remains intact.
He said: "The last couple of games have been pretty bad, to be honest. Playing the big teams in your next game makes it easier for the manager as the players can get themselves up for it even more.
"We know it'll be a tough test but against the bigger teams we've acquitted ourselves fairly well with some decent performances so far.
"We've played well against teams who have come and attacked us, whereas Palace sat back and we found that difficult.
"Although we were flying high, points-wise we were never too far away from the bottom two or three. Our aim has always been to stay in the Premier League. After the last two losses, we need to start getting points on the board, but we know every game is tough. We've got to believe in ourselves and put the losses right."
