Ex-England captain Steven Gerrard can barely contain his excitement at playing for LA Galaxy in their upcoming derby against rivals San Jose Earthquakes.

The 35-year-old midfielder played in many Merseyside derby matches with Everton during his 18 years at Anfield, but says he is still excited about the prospect of playing a derby match in the US.

Ahead of his MLS debut, Gerrard said: "I love derby matches, when I first met Bruce [Arena] he told me to prepare for this game."

"This game has been on everyone´s lips for a few weeks so when I arrived my plan was to use the first two games to prepare for this game."

Gerrard has also reassuring fans that despite leaving the Premier League, he has no intention of letting his standards drop whilst playing in the MLS, saying: "The buzz is always there, I´ve always said if the buzz isn´t there, that´s the moment I stop playing football."

"For me I don´t buy into getting too relaxed, I´ll just keep on doing what I´ve been doing for the past 17 or 18 years."

"I´ll keep preparing like the way I have for the last 18 years. I won´t change too much."