LONDON Everton's Paul Gascoigne says he can see similarities between himself and his successor in England's midfield engine room, 21-year-old Steven Gerrard.

"We are different types of player but, yeah, I can see a lot of myself in Stevie," Gascoigne told British newspapers on Monday.

"We come from similar backgrounds and, like me, he lives for football. It's all he talks about, his life, just like it is for me," said the 34-year-old after coming up against Gerrard in Everton's 3-1 defeat by Liverpool in Saturday's Merseyside derby.

"I watched him play for England and I was proud of the way he played, and what he achieved. He is some player and I hope he can play for England for a long time," added Gascoigne.

The former Newcastle, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers and Middlesbrough player said he took Gerrard to one side after Saturday's game to offer him some advice, Reuters reported.

"I said 'Live your life right so that you can play in every minute of every game for England, and enjoy every minute of it'.

"It's not a question of him learning from my mistakes because everything worked out for me. By 21 I was in the (1990) World Cup semifinal and by 23 I had a multimillion pounds move to Italy.

"If anything it was the injuries for me. Steven has had some problems too but like me he is determined to get back from them. I'm 34 now but I'm determined to keep playing as long as possible.

"If he keeps playing he will get better and better and he's already different class."

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