Richards reveals hilarious story as he recalls he had to borrow Gerrard's boots

Micah Richards has revealed that he had to borrow Steven Gerrard's boots in his first training session with England.

Sportsmail columnist Richards made his England debut in 2006 against Holland at the age of 18.

Richards found himself in an awkward situation when he discovered that kitman Les Chapman had put two left boots in his bag.

The defender, who had made a significant impact for Manchester City as a youngster, asked Gerrard for a pair of his boots, with the Liverpool midfielder duly obliging.

Speaking on BBC Sport, Richards said: '(It was) very awkward, to be honest.

'I was going to (play for) England for the first time and my kitman - Les Chapman, at the time - put two left boots in my bag.

'So I've gone out to train and I've got two left boots.

'I've seen Steven Gerrard in the hallway and asked - and I don't know him - 'Can I borrow your boots?'.

Richards recalled that he was 'sensational' in the subsequent training session as he played all manner of passes.

He said: 'And he let me wear his boots for training - and I was absolutely sensational! I got my boots back and I was c**p again!

'I was making long-range passes, short, curling - I was taking free-kicks, the lot!'.

Richards made 13 appearances for England, the last of which came in 2012.

During his time at City he won the Premier League and the FA Cup, making over 200 appearances in total.

Richards had a loan spell at Fiorentina and then moved to Aston Villa before retiring in 2019, with injuries having often affected him throughout his career.