'I would take Steven Gerrard to Everton'

How happy are you with Everton's start to the season?

I'm very happy. I'm enjoying life under Roberto Martinez. I've always rated him as a manager and was pleased with his appointment. I like the way he's set Everton up tactically and the way he conducts himself. I think we will have a similar season to the one Liverpool had last season in terms of consistency, because we're in transition. There will be times when the fans have to be patient as changing the way a team plays takes time, as Liverpool found last season under Brendan Rodgers.

I've been delighted with the way that he looks to give young players a chance. Obviously Ross Barkley's case is well-documented, but his nurturing of John Stones and Gerard Deulofeu as well as the signing of James McCarthy has been testament to that. His workings on transfer deadline day were excellent: the signings of Gareth Barry and Romelu Lukaku, added to McCarthy for the loss of Fellaini, was a great bit of business.

The major frustration for me so far has been the Capital One Cup exit at Fulham. Cup competitions give Everton the best chance of winning silverware and I felt that was a winnable tie.

Is this the match you want to win more than any other every season?

Not necessarily. Any derby win is always wonderful, but you'd have to put a cup final win ahead of it - and the derby is not a cup final. I'd even say that a win which could qualify a club for the Champions League or even the Europa League would mean more to any club and its supporters than a derby victory.

David Moyes' record in terms of winning derbies was extremely poor and I'm just hoping that Roberto Martinez will be more in the mould of Joe Royle than his predecessor.

Who should Brendan Rodgers be most worried about in the Everton team?

I was going to say Romelu Lukaku because of his pace, power and goalscoring threat, but I actually think that the Everton player who could make the biggest difference on Saturday is Ross Barkley. I always think these fixtures mean more to Scousers than anyone else, they have to - and as a local lad and an Evertonian, no player in the Everton team will want to win more than him. He'll want to have a real influence on proceedings.

If you could have one Liverpool player in the Everton side, who would it be?

The one player I'd take out of the Liverpool side would have to be Steven Gerrard. Even now he can influence a game and he would be great to have in the dressing room. I think that whereas Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge are replaceable, the qualities which Gerrard has brought to Liverpool are irreplaceable. It will be a sad day for Liverpool Football Club when he hangs up his boots.

Where does this game rank in world football?

There's always going to be a bias because I'm a Scouser! For me, because of the history of the two clubs, the proximity, the fact that there's no geographic, religious or political divide meaning that families and friends are split down the middle, the Merseyside derby is probably the purest derby of them all.

Which of the two teams will finish highest at the end of the season?

In my predictions for the start of the season, I thought Liverpool would finish higher than Everton - and I'm sticking by that. As I mentioned earlier, this is a transitional season for Everton. I would just hope that our name is on the FA Cup in 2014, just as it was in 1966 when England won the World Cup too. That would be nice, wouldn't it?

What's your prediction for Saturday?

If this game was played 10 times, you would get 10 different results. It's very much an on-the-day affair. A refereeing decision, as we've seen in derbies, can change games. An early injury could alter a manager's game-plan. There could be a rush of blood to the head by a player, resulting in a sending-off, a player could score a screamer or make a defensive howler. You just never know. I've got to back my own team, though, and say 2-1 to Everton.