Liverpool new-boy Andy Carroll insists being handed Fernando Torres’ old number nine shirt will not be a burden on him.
Carroll made a £35m move from Newcastle United on the same day Torres left Merseyside to join Chelsea in a £50m deal.
The Reds’ decision to part with such a huge fee for Carroll has raised eyebrows, but the 22-year-old is confident he will prove his worth when he returns from a nagging thigh injury.
And when asked about the pressure of filling the shirt vacated by Torres, who scored 65 times in 91 starts for Liverpool, Carroll claimed he feels no burden having been in this situation before.
He said: “Watching Alan Shearer when I had a season ticket, that was the shirt I wanted when I was growing up.
“I knew I'd done well the season before in the Championship and I thought I'd go in and ask for it.
“I know I can play football, I know I can score goals, so I can handle the spotlight.
“I have been in the headlines for the wrong reasons and when I've been travelling to Sunday games, I've read the papers on the way and looked at all those headlines.
“But then I've scored the winner against Arsenal, so it shouldn't really bother me because I have proved I can score goals.
“It has been a massive change in the last year or so; getting promoted, getting the number nine shirt, getting in the England squad and then coming to one of the world's greatest clubs.
“It's very different to playing in the Championship.
“It has been so fast and, thinking about it now, it does seem a very big change.”