I came to Liverpool wanting to stay here for the rest of my career. I certainly didn't want to leave after a year.

I was still with Sunderland at the time of my first cap in 2010, and I remember getting the text to let me know that I was going to be called up to the squad - it was a Friday night, and I was in a hotel in London because we were playing Chelsea the next day.

It is hard to leave your local club. All my family are Sunderland fans, and it is pretty tough because I have had some great years there, but I am looking forward to playing for Liverpool now.

Now and again, you may be picking a pass or two in behind, making something happen, but when we're attacking - especially at Liverpool - I'm focusing on protection, being disciplined, being careful, worrying about counter-attacks, things like that.

I've always been athletic - did the 100 metres and 1500 m at school, cross-country races - and did well in them.

I don't think I'll ever be another Steven Gerrard, to be honest!

Obviously, it was an amazing feeling to play for Liverpool for the first time. It was a little bit funny to be playing against Sunderland, but it is still an amazing feeling every time I put on the Liverpool shirt.

Age is not really the biggest factor, whichever end of the scale you are at. It's how you perform, how you respond to the challenge of having good players around you competing for your place.

You will always be judged as a Liverpool player but, as a captain, you will be judged on what you win, basically. If you're doing well, and the team is winning everything, you become a very good captain.

Coventry was a big part of my career, and I had a great time there.

My favourite meal is probably chicken with penne pasta and pesto.

Whether you win or lose, you need to stay on a level platform.

I get in the gym and put the work in with the fitness coaches so I can be the best shape I can be in.

United are capable of setting up a low block and making it difficult, but they're also capable of coming out and pressing high.

Overall strength work - if you can do it regularly - makes a massive difference on the pitch, especially when you are fatigued. If you are stronger, it helps you deal with that.

Everything on the pitch is to help the team.

It is nice to be playing, being on the pitch, and contributing to the team.

I don't like reading good things about myself. With the criticism and the negative things, I always think that makes me better.

I don't like talking about myself. I find it a lot easier talking about other people.

I'm not particularly into people giving me credit. It's not something I think about. It's not important to me. The only thing that's important is if I'm doing my job properly on the pitch for the team and for the manager.

As a player, you want to win every game. That's what footballers do: they want to play, and they want to win.

Some people might say I'm old at 28, but I look at someone like James Milner. He's 32 and playing like he is 25 or something.

When you come to a club like Liverpool, you need to perform straight away and consistently.

It was Osgood-Schlatters. It wasn't good. It's a growing pains thing, and I had to have a lot of treatment on it. I just shot up immediately and didn't have any kind of physique to deal with it physically. I was tall, all arms and legs, and a bit gangly.

As players, you've got to keep improving, keep learning, keep playing well to get your place in the team.

I don't like to look too far back into the past.

I've always played with a high intensity anyway. That's how I've always been.

There are always those moments in football - and life in general - which can decide the path and the route you go down.

For me, Raheem Sterling is a fantastic player, and he's been brilliant for England. I hope he will stay at Liverpool.

I'm probably my biggest critic.

It's quite hard at times to take my mind off football, but it's very important. I'll watch something on television, anything, whatever the missus wants to watch.

Of course, people are going to criticise when things aren't going well. As players, we have to take on responsibility and prove people wrong.

You are always having to prove something in football whether you are flying or not.

In my opinion, there is no better place to be for a footballer than Liverpool.

I want to improve and learn and get better. To do that, I have to keep putting in good performances and help my team-mates around me.

I knew I had to try and win trophies and be successful and be a big player for Liverpool.

I don't think you need motivation to win a league or a trophy. It's every footballer's dream. It's why you play football. You enjoy and love the game, but you play to win and be the best.

When you're on the pitch, you give 100 percent to win the game.

I have just been a bit inconsistent when I have played. That happens in football, especially when you have been out for a long period.

If you're winning games, the confidence flows, and you gain a rhythm, which I've experienced before.

It is about winning a trophy. It doesn't make any difference to me who lifts it; I would just rather win.

I do whatever the manager tells us to do, really.

When you're not playing, it is difficult to feel that you are the leader of the team.

United have some world-class players with a world-class manager.

I've played with Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard for England, and they are top players.

There are going to be highs and lows throughout a career, and you have to try and level it out. Don't get too high and carried away when things are going well, but don't get too low when things aren't happening.

There are different pressures when you come to a club like Liverpool. You have to perform well each week, or people start to question you, and I discovered that as soon as I got here. It was a difficult time, but I hope I got stronger from coping with it.

When it comes to football, I think it's vital you always enjoy playing, and when I arrived at Anfield, I was determined to do just that, whatever anyone else said.

Football always changes. There are always new players coming in at your club or young players coming through with your club or England. You have to be ready, given 100%, improve, and get better.

At Liverpool and England, it's about moving forward and going in the right direction, and you don't want to be left behind by any means.