England's Steven Gerrard hails Psychiatrist who saved his career

Steven Gerrard

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard believes that he might not have recovered from a career threatening injury if it had not been for Dr Steve Peters, the sports psychiatrist that will travel to the World Cup to offer support to the Three Lions’ stars, reports Liverpool ECHO.

Peters has helped a string of high profile stars from other sports including cyclists Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish but he has also worked closely with the Merseysiders skipper for a number of years.

Gerrard, who has been in fine form for his club throughout February, believes that Peters will provide much needed mental support to help the squad perform on the world stage in Brazil and even admitted that he once helped him overcome a serious groin problem.

“I had a career-threatening injury called a groin avulsion where the muscle comes off the bone. I’d seen three or four surgeons and they weren’t really convincing me that I could play again so I turned to him.

“He helps you with positivity, the power of thought, and staying upbeat, that sort of stuff. It was a very important stage in my career.

“I read his book (The Chimp Paradox) and now I basically understand the different parts of the brain.

“He does simplify things and I am a lot more patient as a person now and I think I’ve improved as a person. He’s also helped me with the game as well,” Gerrard declared.

With England players often failing to reproduce their club form on the international stage and frozen by fear in penalty shoot-outs the introduction of Peters can only be a positive thing if Roy Hodgson and his side are to emerge from the summer’s showpiece tournament with any credit.