Liverpool U18 coach Steven Gerrard insists skipper Jordan Henderson is worthy of his first-choice status.

Gerrard says Liverpool are a better team with Henderson in the XI.

He told the club's website: "I think we're a better team with him in the XI, I think he brings an awful lot to the game that I appreciate as a midfielder.

"It's one of these things, from game to game people change their opinions, it's just part and parcel of being a player in this day and age with the social media and the attention on every single position.

"Players just have to accept it."

On Henderson's captaincy Gerrard added: "The armband comes with big pressure and big responsibility, so Jordan probably gets judged differently to every other player - I did when I played.

"You don't see that as being unfair, you just have to take it on the chin."