'It's important that I be a role model'
Lucas Leiva draws on the difficulties of the past to guide Liverpool's young stars in their quest to ensure a bright future for the Reds.
Having returned from injury in March, the Brazilian midfielder has been limited to substitute appearances as his team have won 10 straight matches.
Away from the bustle of a Barclays Premier League fixture, though, the No.21 has been utilising his experience to pass on nuggets of wisdom to those who are currently thriving.
Lucas looks to the side's struggles in previous seasons and compares them to the environment which now allows the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling to flourish.
And the 27-year-old, committed to the cause as ever, takes satisfaction from playing his part in fine-tuning the development of the next generation.
He told Liverpoolfc.com: "I hope I can be a role model, because I've been here through probably one of the worst periods of the club, where it was very hard and especially the young players had a very difficult start.
"But we can see the likes of Raheem and Philippe; Raheem didn't play many games at the beginning of the season, but now he has probably been our best player for the last few months.
"That shows that if you keep working hard and believing in yourself, you'll get the rewards. Maybe it won't be at the time that you want, but at some point you will for sure.
"Raheem is starting to get the rewards and will definitely finish the season on a high and probably make the World Cup, which is great for him. He's only 19 so it's fantastic.
"Especially with the young players, I always try to speak and pass on a little bit of my experience from my time here."
Lucas' support and encouragement to the starting XI has not gone unnoticed; in fact, Brendan Rodgers has made a point of indicating the midfielder's contribution.
At this stage of the season, it could be argued that such a mentality has a similar impact to actually featuring in games - would the Brazil international concur?
"It could be," he responded. "With a young player, the most important thing is to give them the confidence not to worry too much about missing a pass or not taking a risk.
"We know that physically they are always flying and always at the top. It is just the case of playing with confidence, seeing that with the likes of Steven [Gerrard], Luis [Suarez] and [Martin] Skrtel - the senior players that they have around - that they can feel comfortable and confident that they can go and do the job in their natural way."