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Rodgers plans to persuade Carragher to play on

Jamie Carragher has fought his way back into the Liverpool starting XI this season © PA Photos

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Brendan Rodgers has revealed he will speak to Jamie Carragher before the end of the season in an attempt to convince him to extend his playing career at Anfield.

Carragher announced earlier in the campaign that he will hang up his boots this summer, but he has become a fixture of the Liverpool defence in the second half of the season, ousting Martin Skrtel from the starting line-up.

The veteran has made 33 appearances so far, the latest of which came in the 0-0 draw at Reading. He is currently second in the all-time Liverpool appearances list, and Rodgers believes there is still a role for him at the club.

"He's been fantastic and I do [believe he could play next season]," Rodgers told Goals on Sunday. "Him and I communicate a lot and he's obviously got something in his mind.

"Him and I will sit down between now and the end of the season anyway and we'll see where it goes.

"If he does go, I will certainly miss him because he's been brilliant for me in my time there, going in as a manager of a club of that size. He's shown great respect and really helped me and the other guys.

"The thing for now is to keep performing the way he is until the end of the season and between then and now him and I will chat and we'll take it from there."

Rodgers explained how he already talked Carragher out of retirement once, when the manager first arrived at the club. "I had a good conversation with Carra last summer because he was maybe thinking about moving on to pastures new last year, but we talked and decided that he would stay.

"For me, he's hardly put a foot wrong. I obviously wanted to go with a pairing of Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger as maybe the future at the beginning of the season and those guys have done really well.

"But I felt that with Carra and all the games he's played - the cup games and any time he's come in in the league - he's been remarkable and I felt I wanted to put him in the team."

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