El Hadji Diouf has taken a cheeky swipe at Steven Gerrard ahead of England's World Cup last 16 match with Senegal.

Gareth Southgate's side are preparing for the tournament's knockout stages after an impressive group stage saw them go unbeaten against Iran, USA and Wales.

Diouf's Senegal are up next and ahead of the match he has reignited his feud with Gerrard that stems back to when the pair both featured for Liverpool.

The controversial forward also spent time at Ibrox during a six-month spell and he has never shied away from having a cheeky pop at his former teammate Gerrard.

Diouf has hailed the current England team claiming there is more team spirit in camp than in previous major tournaments.

Previewing Sunday's match against the Three Lions, Diouf referenced Gerrard and Frank Lampard's relationship. He said: “England have a good team and a very good team spirit.

“It’s not like with Stevie G and Frank Lampard, when the two of them didn’t like each other, it’s about team spirit and Southgate did a great job. On Sunday it’s not about the best team winning it, it’s the one with the strongest mentality and team spirit who are going to win it.”

Meanwhile, Michael Beale has hailed Gerrard as “a huge influence” on his career as he thanked his mentor for giving him a platform to go on and become Rangers manager.

“Steven’s been a huge influence on me as a person because he has very high standards as a person, very high morals,” he said as he was unveiled to the media for the first time at Ibrox on Thursday.

“The three and a half years I worked with him here has enabled me to be sat in a position like this. He brought me on a lot in terms of management and leadership.

“I think I added a different part to his management team in terms of the coaching on the pitch.”

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