"We're doing very well but I'd like to be in the same position come Easter," he said. "These are genuine lads who don't go around just criticising and they say Liverpool aren't playing that well. They've got a few injuries and as we're at home we've got a chance."But even the arch Evertonian in him could not blind Irons to the true priorities and getting promotion would be worth far more than even beating the old enemy. They're getting stronger and every year teams who get promoted are getting relegated the next season. They're both Premiership sides but will be totally different tests."Sometimes people say there's not that much difference between the First and the Premier Divisions but we know there is.

"We were denied a penalty late on and it wouldn't have been an injustice if we had won. "Sometimes you think you're there for life but things arrive in football. You need new challenges, and you can get bored doing the same things with the same people. It's the same with any job, but they've accepted me straight away and made me feel at home here."As he was speaking, Irons' nose was bleeding, the outcome of an accidental knock in training. Losing to Wimbledon in the Worthington Cup had cut off one opportunity, now he has others."We had the better chances," he said ruminating over the Wimbledon game. Which is why Bruce made him captain when Chris Lucketti broke his leg.So well did Irons play against promotion rivals, Manchester City, that the Manchester Evening News, which does not normally notice anyone not wearing a City-blue shirt, positively purred about him recently and against Wimbledon in the Worthington Cup he was voted man of the match.For a man who had been with one club and someone who has lived in Liverpool all his life, he has discovered that a change can be beneficial.

"It was a wrench leaving Tranmere in some ways but it didn't worry me," he said. It seemed he would be that rare item, a one-team player, but in the summer Steve Bruce made a move for him and pounds 450,000 later he now leads the First Division leaders.It was Bruce and what he represents rather than Huddersfield who swayed the deal and it is clear the manager and captain have a good relationship, as the banter proved. "I played against him when he played for Sheffield United," Irons said with just a hint of relish. "I think I skipped past him once or twice and, of course, I have to tell him that."He has skipped past a few others, too, this season. Trevor Steven was my favourite player, but in the Eighties they were strong everywhere.

A fantastic side."And it's fair to say I like to see Everton win and Liverpool lose because it makes it a better household from my point of view All my family are Evertonians. My uncle has never set foot in Anfield, he hates them that much."Irons, 29, has been to Anfield, playing there aged 11 in a seven-a-side and in reserve games for Tranmere Rovers, a club he joined as a teenager. well, perhaps the family cat ought to be taking a holiday."I'm a massive Everton fan," he said "I used to go everywhere watching them. Indeed as stand- in captain for the First Division side he will have a pivotal part to play in the outcome To succeed will be delicious, to fail...