Steve Bruce: "Andy Carroll could quite easily have ended up being my player.
"When I was Wigan manager, we were hammering Newcastle 2-0 but they brought him on and he played well - really well. He made a hell of a difference.
"On the Monday morning I rang up Joe Kinnear and asked him if he would sell Andy. They quoted me £4.5m and I seriously thought about it, but in the end we could only go to £2.5m.
"I had Emile Heskey at the time as well and I did wonder if he and Carroll would work together up front.
"I'm sure Andy will make his full Premier League debut against us although I hope the niggle he has lasts for a bit longer!
"That will present a challenge both to him and to us. I honestly wish him the best of luck.
"He is the old-fashioned British No 9 and it will be interesting to see how he does and how he manages for Liverpool.
"He has got a wonderful opportunity and I am sure he has a fantastic future because he is so different."
