Gerrard: We won’t let you down

May 23 2007 by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo

STEVEN GERRARD heads into the Olympic Stadium tonight with a pledge to the Liverpool fans dreaming of a sixth European Cup: “You know we won’t let you down.”

Whatever the result against AC Milan in Athens, Gerrard says the players have shown enough times in the past they’ll give everything for the red shirt.

And although the skipper would prefer a more orthodox route to success than that which saw him inspire Liverpool to victory from a 3-0 deficit in 2005, he says the same spirit will be on show tonight.

“What we can promise is we’ll do everything we can to bring that trophy back,” he said.

“We’ve shown on plenty of occasions, particularly in big cup finals, that no matter what the situation, we’ll never give up. We’ll have exactly the same attitude tonight.”

With at least 30,000 Liverpool fans expected in the Olympic Stadium, despite the paltry 17,000 allocation from UEFA, Gerrard knows more than anyone the debt the players owe to the supporters.

“They’re the best fans in the world and we know our responsibility to them,” he said.

“People have paid a lot of money to see us perform, and the least all of us can do is give our all to make them happy. We all want the same thing, and it’s an honour for us to have another chance to do what we did two years ago.”