Ross County’s Jermaine Hylton revealed an extra incentive to do well against Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday.
The Staggies striker is a big Liverpool fan and counts Gers boss Steven Gerrard among his heroes.
Birmingham-born Hylton, 27, can recall Gerrard helping Liverpool to their dramatic Champions League final win in 2005 when they beat AC Milan 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out after coming from three goals down at half-time.
Hylton, who signed for County last October from Motherwell, said: “I am a Liverpool fan since I was about eight or nine.
“I knew absolutely nothing about the game and just supported them because my friend did and it stuck.
“He (Gerrard) has always been someone I have looked up to.
“I remember the Champions League final when we went down to Milan and we came back and I have gone running outside down the road in the middle of the night.
“He has been big in my household and it is always nice to go and challenge yourself against people you look up to.”
Hylton knows the task in Govan is formidable. Gerrard’s side have won 21 and drawn three of their 24 league games – winning 11 at home – and sit 20 points clear of champions Celtic at the top of the table albeit having played two games more.
The former Swindon and Solihull Moors player said: “These are the kind of games where it is almost a free hit.
“We go there with the belief we can get a result, but there are probably not too many others in the country expecting a result.
“If we can get something out of it we can say ‘yes, that’s what we went there for’ but if we don’t everyone will say that we were never going to get a result.
“So it is a win-win almost. We are playing in the same league and anything is possible.
Hylton scored his first goal for County in the 4- 1 win over Aberdeen at the weekend which took the Dingwall side off the bottom of the table.
He is delighted to be back in the starting line-up under new boss John Hughes and aims to make the most of it.
Hylton said: “The most important thing for any player is to be playing and that’s happening now.
“I am enjoying my football again and there is a really good vibe around the place.
“The main priority is to be playing games and when you are not doing that it is frustrating, a little bit disheartening.
“And I have been in the game long enough to know football changes very quickly from good to bad and bad to good and it is a cycle that keeps going until you leave the game.
“So thing are going really well now. I am sure that sometime in the future I might have another bad spell but you have to try to take maximum advantage of the good spells and minimise the bad ones.”
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