MANAGER John Barnes expects his Tranmere side to be fired up by the prospect of playing against Steven Gerrard tonight.

Rovers officials are hopeful the England international midfielder will turn out for a Liverpool XI in the pre-season friendly at Prenton Park (kick-off 7.45 pm) provided he is at liberty to do so.

Gerrard spent most of this week at Liverpool Crown Court, pleading not guilty to charges of affray resulting from an incident at a Southport bar last December.

With Liverpool’s first-team squad on tour in the Far East, Gerrard may be given a run with the Anfield reserves squad taking on Tranmere in order to build up his match fitness ahead of the Premier League kick-off in three weeks’ time.

Meanwhile, Barnes is preparing Rovers for the start of a League One campaign that is just two weeks away.

He said: “It would be an incentive for our players and hopefully an incentive for the crowd to come and see one of the best players in the world at Prenton Park.

“I want our players to believe that while Steven Gerrard is a great player, they can compete against him. There is no reason why we, as a team, can’t compete against the best players and the best teams.

“Playing against Steven Gerrard should give our players confidence. If they put in a good performance they will know they can compete with players at the highest level.”

The visit of a Liverpool side managed by former Tranmere youth coach John McMahon presents Rovers with a different type of test to anything they’ve encountered in the pre-season programme so far.

“The game against Liverpool is going to be a very good test for us,” Barnes said. “We want to do well in front of our home fans and that means trying to impose our pattern, our system, on the game.”

Barnes is attempting to establish a playing style based around passing and movement – qualities that feature prominently in the teams of Rafael Benitez.