Gerrard feared his career over

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has admitted he thought his playing career could be over after missing the last six months through injury.

The Reds skipper had an operation on his groin in April and further complications delayed his return to first-team action.

Gerrard marked his comeback to the Liverpool starting line-up with a goal against Manchester United on Saturday, but said when he found out about his injury, he did wonder whether his days playing for the Merseyside club were over.

“It’s only natural that you have doubts,” he told the club’s official magazine.

“Different things cross your mind from time to time.”

“When I got the injury I knew it was going to be a serious one, something that I wasn’t used to. I’ll admit that I was down, as low as I’ve ever been as a footballer.”

Gerrard said surgery was necessary, as he was playing at less-than-full fitness for Liverpool, and it was debilitating for the midfielder.

“Before the operation I’d been getting niggles and having injections to play. I knew I wasn’t right. I was trying to put my body on the line. But it wasn’t the real me and I wasn’t the player I want to be,” he said.

“I was missing training sessions and coming in the day before a game trying to get that last session in, or having injections to play the next day.”

“You can only do that for a certain amount of time before your body gives in, and my groin packed in on me.”

He said the injury put him in a negative mindset for some time, and he credited the rehabilitation period as one of the hardest times he has undergone in professional football.

“When it happened I was down and it took time before I got back in to a positive frame of mind. It probably wasn’t until a couple of weeks after the operation, when I got off the crutches, that I started being really positive again,” Gerrard said.

“Without a doubt the last six months have been the hardest of my career.”