England midfielder Steven Gerrard has warned players and officials of the abilities of Liverpool teammate Martin Skrtel. Slovakia's Skrtel is coming on in leaps and bounds at Anfield and Gerrard is wary of the defenders capabilities.

"It will be a good tie. Martin is a fantastic player who is getting better all the time," he said at a press conference.

"I am sure he will be a world class player in the future.

"If his teammates are as good as him we're in for a really tough game.

"He is really tough and vocal on the pitch but he's quiet off it. We've had a bit of banter, though," Gerrard added.

"We're looking forward to testing ourselves against them."