McAllister hails ´winner´ Milner

James Milner’s experience and winning mentality will prove vital to Liverpool this season, according to first-team coach Gary McAllister.

The former Manchester City man made his Liverpool debut in Sunday’s 1-0 win at Stoke City – Milner partnering Jordan Henderson in a new-look midfield pairing.

Milner will be tasked with helping fill the void left by former captain Steven Gerrard’s departure to the Los Angeles Galaxy and McAllister stated his confidence in the 29-year-old.

“He is a winner, he has won leagues,” the Scot told Liverpool’s official website.

“He’s an experienced player in big competitions and big competitions for his country as well. He brings good experience.

“You can bring in players that are a little bit older and have got experience but their experiences are not necessarily good ones. 

“But he’s got good experience, he knows how to win.

“His professionalism in the opening three or four weeks that I’ve been here has been outstanding.”

Alongside Milner, Brendan Rodgers has brought in Nathaniel Clyne, Joe Gomez, Christian Benteke, Danny Ings and Roberto Firmino as Liverpool seek to challenge the top four this term.

“I think we tick most of the boxes,” McAllister added of Liverpool’s midfield ranks.

“You’ve got people who are specialists at sitting in front of a back four, we’ve got players with great running power, players with skill and guile, people who can run beyond strikers.

“You can’t just be pinpointed as players playing in little slots, the fact that we can change things and there are loads of various little shapes that the manager can use will work well for us I think.”