GUS POYET has urged North-East football fans to head to the Stadium of Light this lunchtime for a final glimpse of one of the greatest players of the Premier League era.

Having announced his decision to move to LA Galaxy in the summer earlier this week, Steven Gerrard will make his final appearance on North-East soil when Sunderland host Liverpool in today’s early kick-off.

The former England captain has been one of the staples of the Premier League landscape for more than a decade, and his impending departure has dominated the sporting bulletins for much of the week.

Poyet played against the midfielder on a number of occasions before moving into management, and were he not to be in the Sunderland dug out this afternoon, he would willingly pay the admission fee just to watch the 34-year-old in action.

“I didn’t realise this is the last time he’s going to play in the North-East,” said the Black Cats head coach. “If I was a football fan, I’d go to the Stadium of Light. I’d go just to see him. He’s the kind of player where it’s worth paying the price of a ticket just to watch him, even for just one action.

“When he came on at Anfield against us (in early December), the first thing he did was to switch play with a ball from the outside of his foot. That alone was worth a ticket because I don’t think too many players could do that.

“He’s that type of player. Fans in the North-East might not be able to see that again, so this is a great opportunity. I don’t know if he’s going to play – you’ll have to ask Brendan (Rodgers) – but it would be nice to have the chance to see him one last time. Realistically, I’d prefer him not to play, but as a football fan, I always want the best players to play.”

Gerrard underlined his enduring talent when he scored both goals in Liverpool’s FA Cup win over AFC Wimbledon on Monday night, leading some to conclude that he will be leaving English football too early when he heads to Los Angeles in the summer.

With Liverpool reluctant to offer him a new contract, he has opted to head to America rather than join a Premier League rival, although just as Frank Lampard has ended up with Manchester City after leaving Chelsea last summer, there is always a chance Gerrard could return on loan during the MLS off season.

Poyet does not expect to see him lining up for one of Liverpool’s rivals in the future, but readily concedes he could still play a leading role for any number of sides in the English top-flight.

“When we played against Liverpool last month, he changed the game for many reasons,” he said. “First, because of quality, and when he’s on the pitch he’s a player who makes the people around him feel better.

“He also changed the crowd. The game was going down in terms of the atmosphere, it was getting quiet, but then you put Steven Gerrard on at Anfield and everything changes. That helped them in a big way and although we coped, it was very difficult for us. That shows how influential he can be.”

Gerrard’s position in the pantheon of Premier League greats will be debated throughout the final four months of the season. He will leave Anfield with a Champions League winners’ medal to his name, but unlike the likes of Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Patrick Vieira and Lampard, who can also claim to have been some of the greatest central midfielders of the last 20 years, he has not claimed a Premier League title.

To some, that will always be a glaring omission from his CV, but Poyet feels it would be unfair to focus on the one thing Gerrard didn’t do rather than praise the host of achievements he has to his name.

“We’re a bit unfair when we talk just about him not winning the Premier League title, but it’s typical of football, we concentrate on the bad things,” he said. “He won the Champions League, won the UEFA and FA Cups, he pretty much won the lot, so why are we going to focus on the one thing missing?

“That’s football. They (Liverpool) were close last year, and I’m sure that was terrible for him because that’s the closest you get.

“We’re going to miss him. He was young when I played against him, and he’s a different player now. He was more of a young box-to-box player then – very good on the ball and at arriving to score goals. With age, he’s got better in terms of positioning and being influential in the team.”

* Sunderland youngsters Connor Oliver and David Ferguson have both joined Championship side Blackpool on a permanent transfer.