James McArthur was close to being named the Crystal Palace player of the year at the clubs’ annual awards ceremony held at Fairfield Halls on Wednesday night.

His performances this season in a variety of midfield positions have won the hearts of many Palace fans and observers, not least Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson.

Pearson, who came close to signing the Scottish international from Wigan Athletic in the August transfer window, throttled McArthur on the floor in the Eagles’ 1-0 away win back in February, but played down the incident.

It was one of many memorable moments for the midfielder over his 30 Premier League games this season, and with just two games left there is one special moment which the midfielder is looking forward to.

Tomorrow [Saturday], Palace face Liverpool at Anfield in the evening TV kick-off in what is set to be Steven Gerrard’s fina home league game for the Reds.

Described on the Liverpool FC homepage as a "once-in-a-lifetime" player, captain Gerrard has made more than 700 appearances for the Reds, gaining a MBE alongside League Cups, FA Cups, the UEFA Cup, PFA awards, nominations for the UEFA Ballon D’Or and a Champions League title.

McArthur is looking forward to being on the pitch on such a momentous occasion.

“All of us are really looking forward to Liverpool,” said McArthur. “Last week we were all looking forward to the Manchester United match.

"You want to play against great players, do yourself justice a little bit and try and get yourself three points.

“Gerard is an inspiration to a lot of players and to a lot of kids - he’s a real ambassador for football.”

Despite the occasion, McArthur is only interested in an away win in the north west for the Eagles, who have two league games left this season and currently lie in 12th, three points and one position behind their finish last season.

“We’ve got to try and get the three points and not make it a happy ending for him [Gerrard],” said McArthur.

“We don’t want another defeat. We want to try and go there and win - we want to finish as high as we can.”