Video: Any team would want Gerrard in it – Bruce

The Liverpool captain, fresh from his 500th Premier League appearance in the weekend draw at West Brom, is into his final month at Anfield after signalling his intention at the start of the year to move to America.

His lap of honour has not, so far, been what he or his adoring fans in the red half of Merseyside had hoped it would be.

The much-touted possibility of lifting the FA Cup next month on what will be his 35th birthday ended with defeat to Aston Villa at Wembley nine days ago.

Calling time on what has been a fantastic career with the parting gift of Champions League qualification for his beloved club also now looks unlikely.

For all that, however, Hull manager Steve Bruce insists that English football will be bidding farewell to a special talent come May 24 when Gerrard bows out at Stoke City.

“Sometimes the word great is used too often, but you have to say Gerrard has been a great player,” said Bruce ahead of tonight’s game at the KC Stadium.

“When you think about Liverpool, their history and their tradition, the biggest compliment you can give Steven Gerrard is that he is right up there among the best.

“People talk about (Kenny) Dalglish and (Ian) Rush, but he is up there in that company. What a fantastic player.

“He has been a fantastic role model and the Premier League could do with a few more of him. The Premier League will miss him, definitely.

“How many times have you seen him single handedly rescue Liverpool? I remember the FA Cup final against West Ham. What a player.”

Gerrard will leave with a host of medals and memories, be it the incredible night he lifted the Champions League in 2005 or the May afternoon a year later when he broke West Ham hearts in the Millennium Stadium to win the Cup.

What he will not do, however, is have the Premier League winner’s medal he craved. His notorious slip against Chelsea on April 27 last year not only spawned a cruel terrace chant for his tormentors, it also paved the way for Manchester City to go on and lift a trophy that had seemed destined for Anfield.

“That will always be with him,” said Bruce when asked by The Yorkshire Post about Gerrard’s costly error in a game in which Chelsea triumphed 2-0.

“But, at the end of his playing days, he can look back on a wonderful career. He has been one of the greats for Liverpool and England.

“Any team would want Steven Gerrard in it, certainly in my era as a manager.”

Bruce, as he made clear yesterday when asked if he expects Gerrard to start, is a huge admirer of the Liverpool captain. “He can come and play for us if he likes,” quipped the Tigers’ chief.

His only priority tonight, however, is claiming another positive result from what is Hull’s game in hand on most of their relegation rivals.

A goalless stalemate at Liverpool in late October gives Hull hope, as does last season’s 3-1 triumph over Brendan Rodgers’s side at the KC.

That triumph remains the only time the Tigers have taken maximum points off one of the Premier League’s elite since winning promotion in 2013, which considering who Bruce’s men play during the run-in is far from ideal.

Nevertheless, the manner of the weekend win at Crystal Palace has inspired fresh belief in the East Riding that the club can stay up.

“Any result against the big boys is great,” said Bruce, “and we enjoyed it last year.

“That was about the time we announced ourselves in the Premier League last year, when teams started to take notice of us.

“It proved that we weren’t cannon fodder and we weren’t going to be relegated; it was the big moment in the season for us.

“We defended well on that day, but we always caused a threat. That is the thing you have to do.

“Nobody can be anything less than an eight out of 10 and that’s always difficult. We need everyone at their peak.

“I hope Saturday has given the players a lift so they can play with a bit of swagger.

“We need a result against one of the big boys during the run-in so let’s hope we can repeat last year’s win against Liverpool.

“If we can take something from it, we all have four (games) to play (barring Sunderland, who go to Arsenal on the final Wednesday of the campaign).

“A little bit of daylight between us and the bottom three would make things look far, far healthier.”

Last six games: Hull City DDLLLW, Liverpool LLWWLLD.

Referee: L Probert (Wiltshire).

Last time: Hull City 3 Liverpool 1; December 1, 2013; Premier League.