The defender has led the Lionesses since January 2014 and believes the way the former Liverpool and England midfielder drove his team-mates to victory has played a major part in her own career; Watch The Women's Football Show from 10.30pm on Sky Sports Football
Friday 18 December 2020 21:16, UK
Manchester City and England's Steph Houghton says Steven Gerrard's leadership skills inspired her as a captain for both club and country.
The defender has led the Lionesses since January 2014 and believes the way the former Liverpool and England midfielder drove his team-mates to victory has played a major part in her own career wearing the armband.
Speaking exclusively to The Women's Football Show, Houghton said: "In terms of performances, he used the armband to raise his level and to help his team-mates to ultimately win.
"There's so many games, going back to the Champions League final when they beat AC Milan, where he pretty much single-handedly drove them to victory.
"So to look at the way he is as a player, his energy and enthusiasm to want to win, was something I really did look at when I was younger."
Although Houghton has led by example for the past six years, the 32-year-old has no immediate plans to either relinquish the armband or retire as she continues her pursuit for success - both individually and collectively.
"On the pitch, I lead by example in terms of my work rate and effort and to push and drive standards to win because ultimately I want to win as well as win trophies with my team-mates.
"When you play at that level and there's one or two mistakes in a game, there's a lot of media and other outlets straight on your back saying you're finished or too old, or you shouldn't be captain," Houghton added.
"When really if you watch the last 10-15 games it was probably one mistake out of all of them.
"I work as hard as I can every single possible day - whether that is on the pitch or in the gym, as well as in terms of recovery and trying to do that extra 1 per cent to make sure I am in the best physical shape and I just need to keep pushing to make sure I keep myself on that team sheet."
Watch The Women's Football Show from 10.30pm on Sky Sports Football.
