STEPHEN Darby has paid tribute to retiring legend Steven Gerrard and revealed his former Liverpool team-mate has provided the inspiration for his own career.

City right-back Darby progressed through the youth ranks at Anfield and briefly played alongside Gerrard before moving to Valley Parade in July 2012 following loan spells at Swindon, Notts County and Rochdale.

Gerrard this week announced his retirement, ending a 19-year playing career which saw him captain Liverpool and England.

Darby said: "I was fortunate enough to train and play with Gerrard for a number of years and obviously his record in football speaks for itself.

"I think he was certainly the greatest player I've seen play for Liverpool and one of the best players in the world.

"It's a shame we won't be seeing him play any longer but he was a fantastic servant for Liverpool Football Club.

"Like I said, in my eyes he's the best player to ever play for Liverpool and I'm sure whatever he goes into – whether that's management or punditry – he will have another long career ahead of him."

Gerrard, 36, played 710 times for the Reds, winning nine trophies, before joining MLS side LA Galaxy in 2015.

The midfielder is England's fourth most-capped player with 114 appearances and captained the side at three of the six major tournaments he played at.

Darby, a boyhood Liverpool supporter, said: "His influence there was massive and he epitomised everything that the club was about.

"It wasn't just his ability but the drive, determination and desire that he had.

"For a young lad, seeing the likes of Gerrard and Jamie Carragher come through did give you hope that one day it could be you.

"That's what young players have to aspire to and Gerrard lived every young lad's dream.

"Not only to play for Liverpool but to win the amount of trophies that he won. What he achieved was second to none."

Darby has skippered the Bantams and the 28-year-old said: "There was no better way for me to learn my trade from the world-class players in the game – the likes of Gerrard, Carragher and Xabi Alonso.

"I was fortunate enough to learn from them and anything I can take from those experiences and put in my own game, then great."

City, meanwhile, head to Swindon today aiming to carry on the good work after their 1-0 win over Northampton on Tuesday.

Tony McMahon is gradually working his way back to full fitness and played for the reserves in midweek.

"We've got a lot of competition in the squad and it's healthy competition," said Darby.

"We've got a great team spirit about us and that's what it's all about – lads pushing each other every day in training and during games. This is definitely the strongest squad we've had in my time here.

"I think you only have to look at the squad to see that, with the players we already had and the lads we brought in during the summer. They have all hit the ground running and the competition for places is there for all to see.

"Everyone here is ambitious and wants to get promotion – but we're not getting too carried away.

"It's important that we build on what we did on Tuesday night and take it into Swindon. That's the mentality we need to have."