Gerrard sorry for horror tackle

Liverpool's England midfielder telephoned George Boateng on Sunday night to apologise in person for the shin-high challenge at Anfield that could have resulted in serious injury for the Aston Villa anchor man.

While stressing that he has no intention of curbing his aggressive nature, Gerrard admitted there was a danger he could earn a reputation for indiscipline and vowed to do his utmost to avoid it.

As he prepared to switch from the right flank to his favoured role in central midfield for Liverpool's Champions League opener against Boavista tonight, the 21-year-old opened up on the rumpus that overshadowed his World Cup heroics for England.

He said: 'I got George's number through my agent and I am glad to say he accepted my apology. It was something I felt I had to do because it was a bad tackle, even though I did not intentionally try to cause him any harm.

'I have also apologised to my teammates, the manager Gerard Houllier and the rest of the staff at Liverpool, because they are going to be without me for three games now and I feel bad about that.

'Aggression is a big part of my game and I won't change the way I play, but I have taken on board everything that has happened and been said over the weekend. I don't want to be known as some sort of soccer bad boy.

'It has not been a nice couple of days for me. I will learn, because it is not an experience I want to go through again.

'I went in hard for the ball and bounced off the top of it. I definitely wasn't trying to hurt him. But it was a bad challenge and I must admit

I was made up to see him get to his feet and carry on. I apologised to the Villa manager John Gregory after the game and now I have said sorry to George himself.'

Gregory said: 'George is fine and I don't think Steven is the type of player who would try to cripple anyone. Football is a hard game and these tackles often happen.'

Houllier described how he plans to protect Gerrard from the contrasting reactions to his stirring deeds for England and red-card shame at club level.

The Liverpool manager said: 'It is very difficult to tell someone not to switch on the television or radio and not to pick up a newspaper, but I will be doing all I can to protect Steven from all the intense interest in everything he does.

'He has been portrayed as a national hero one minute and a villain the next. To my mind, he is somewhere in between and I intend keeping a sense of perspective about his development.

'You learn from your mistakes and he will. You have to remember that he is only 21 and will have more ups and downs on his way to becoming, hopefully, a great player.'

Michael Owen is restored to Liverpool's starting line-up tonight and is looking to extend a remarkable sequence of making a scoring debut in all competitions after marking his first appearance with a goal in the Premiership, FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.