Liverpool midfielder James Milner brought up 600 Premier League appearances in his side's 3-1 victory over Southampton on Saturday.
The 36-year-old recovered from a head injury in time to make the squad for the Anfield encounter, having been forced to sit out recent wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Derby County.
Milner was unsurprisingly named among the substitutes for the visit of Nathan Jones's side, but he replaced Harvey Elliott with 22 minutes remaining to set a new personal milestone.
Twenty years on from making his Premier League debut as a 16-year-old, Milner has now become just one of four players to have hit the 600-appearance mark in the competition.
Gareth Barry (653), Ryan Giggs (632) and Frank Lampard (609) have also achieved that milestone, but Milner has admitted that "a lot of luck" is also to thank for his longevity.
600 - James Milner is today making his 600th appearance in the Premier League, becoming the fourth player to reach 600 in the competition after Gareth Barry (653), Ryan Giggs (632) and Frank Lampard (609). Endurance. pic.twitter.com/mPWcqjHEPC
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 12, 2022
"It's a lot of games and a long time. You need a lot of luck, I've been very fortunate to play with a lot of very good players and managed to learn off those and the managers. It's great to be still playing and hopefully contributing as much as I can at a club like Liverpool," Milner told Liverpoolfc.com.
"[Gareth Barry's record of 653] is a long way off. You know me, game by game and I just want to keep working and contributing as much as I can to this football club."
Jurgen Klopp paid a special tribute to the ex-England international after the game and subsequently revealed that he was dealing with a small muscular problem as well as his concussion protocol.
However, the Liverpool boss insisted that Milner would have made his 600th appearance on Saturday no matter the scoreline, adding: "I heard now he is only the fourth player [to do it].
"There are a lot of things that [need to] come together: you must be a really good player, which obviously James is, you must be a top, top, top, top, top professional because our body is our body and what we put in we get, pretty much.
"I am really proud to be around when he reached that milestone. He is an exceptional player and an exceptional person. He is essential for everything we reached in the last few years.
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"Today was a really big day for us as well because we knew it was 599 and there was actually no chance and no result where James wouldn't come on. He had concussion and then a little muscle problem; not massive, but a little one.
"He was ready for today with one session and it's cool, absolutely cool. Well deserved, big, but it's just Premier League? So that means with Champions League and all the cup competitions he is at 800 or so probably. Wow, massive!
"A good career, let me say it like this. And not finished, how you could see. He is very helpful for us still. He knows everything about the game because [with] the emotions he is not always using the right tools, but he can set the tone. He did that when he came on today and I am really pleased for him."
Milner has amassed 55 goals and 89 assists alongside his 600 Premier League appearances, and he was not the only Liverpool man to write his name into top-flight folklore.
Andy Robertson set up two of Liverpool's goals on the day, meaning that the left-back has now recorded 53 Premier League assists - the joint-most for a defender alongside Leighton Baines.
Darwin Nunez (2) and Roberto Firmino struck for Klopp's side in Saturday's win, seeing Liverpool rise to sixth in the table, but they could be bumped down to seventh ahead of the World Cup if Brighton & Hove Albion beat Aston Villa on Sunday.
Ben Knapton
