He replied: “It’s the drive and hunger, you want to be the best every day whether it’s game or training. I’m surrounded by a lot of young lads, I want to contribute to their careers, push them and help them get to the highest level as quick as possible.
“That’s what I’m here to do. I feel like I can still contribute minutes. I’ve been a bit frustrated this year, maybe not getting the minutes, but it’s a fine balance because of course we have to develop players as well and we want to win.”
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Milner has a decision to make over his future sooner rather than later. The veteran is out of contract at the end of the season, but it appears that he is not considering hanging up his boots quite yet.
He added: “Hopefully I’ve proved the last few games that I can still contribute on the pitch. I’m delighted to be part of it and the dressing room, it’s full of incredible characters and very good players, and a good up and coming manager.
“Things change quickly in football. When you get older things can change quickly. With the injury I had last season I couldn’t lift my foot for six months. I’ll keep pushing, let’s see where that takes us.”
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Milner was the recipient of a number of kind words before taking to the pitch for Brighton. Ex-Liverpool team-mate Jordan Henderson was among those to pay tribute. Henderson said: “I was very lucky to have Milly as my vice-captain at Liverpool, although I didn’t see him as that. I saw us as a pair of captains.
“He helped me tremendously, not only on the pitch but off it, too. We had a really good professional relationship. We called it good cop, bad cop – I’ll let you work out which one was which. We also had a great friendship off the field; our wives are still close and speak a lot.”
Milner started his career with Leeds and went on to represent Newcastle, Aston Villa, City and Liverpool in the Premier League before a switch to Brighton in 2023. He has also earned 61 caps for England during his career, the last of which came in 2016.
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