MARK LAWRENSON last night moved to diffuse a row over alleged comments made by Steven Gerrard about Robbie Keane’s Liverpool future.

The former Liverpool defender sparked controversy on Irish radio when he suggested that Gerrard had intimated in a conversation with him on Saturday that the Ireland captain could be leaving in January.

But the Anfield skipper disputed that version of events – before Lawrenson himself tried to clear up the confusion.

The BBC pundit, speaking on The Last Word with Today FM, said: “I hate to namedrop but I was having a drink with Steven Gerrard at a function on Saturday night and we talked about Robbie Keane.

“He said they shared the same agent and quite honestly he thinks something’s going to happen with Keane in January. It sounds like he could be moved on.”

Lawrenson, however, insists he was trying to reflect his own opinion on the situation and didn’t intend to involve Gerrard in the interview.

Quotes from the show circulated the internet yesterday, some appearing under headlines that gave the impression Gerrard was directly quoted talking about his team-mate.

“I’m sorry if it caused any aggravation but it wasn’t meant to,” said Lawrenson.

“Steven Gerrard’s name should never have come up in terms of Robbie Keane going in January.

“It wasn’t Steven saying that it was me saying it.

“The only connection I was making between the two was that they have the same agent and I have had a hunch for a while that Keane could go.

“But that is my opinion and nothing whatsoever to do with any conversations I had with Steven Gerrard.

“I happened to mention I spoke to him on Saturday night but I didn’t mean for that to come across in the way that it has been interpreted.”