The Reds will now face Bolton Wanderers at Anfield in the fourth round after the captain headed in the opener in the first half and then won it with a fine free kick in the second

A goal in each half from Steven Gerrard handed Liverpool a 2-1 victory at AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup third round.

The Liverpool captain – who announced his plans to leave Anfield at the end of the season on Friday – was in fine form at Kingsmeadow to dash League Two Wimbledon’s hopes of repeating their famous victory in the 1988 final.

Gerrard perfectly timed a run into the penalty area to head home the opening goal after 12 minutes, but his side were pegged back by Adebayo Akinfenwa’s close-range leveller before the interval.

Wimbledon had further chances to add to that goal, but it was Gerrard who was the match-winner with a superbly placed free kick after 62 minutes.

Brendan Rodgers’ men were able to keep their opponents at arm’s length in the closing minutes to set up a home tie with Bolton Wanderers in the fourth round.

Akinfenwa returned as one of two changes for the hosts, but it was his strike partner Matt Tubbs who threatened early.

The 30-year-old latched onto an eighth-minute flick from Akinfenwa, but he dragged his shot wide of Simon Mignolet’s goal.

Neal Ardley’s men were made to pay four minutes later as Gerrard marked his first Liverpool game since declaring his intention to leave the club by breaking the deadlock.

He got on the end of a pinpoint delivery from Javier Manquillo – one of four Liverpool alterations – and neatly placed his header beyond James Shea.

Having soaked up plenty of pressure, Wimbledon slowly battled back and just before the half hour saw Sean Rigg denied by a superb reflex save from Mignolet.

However, the goalkeeper was all at sea in the 37th minute as he failed to claim a George Francomb corner, and Akinfenwa was on hand to fire Wimbledon level.

The fourth-tier side went close to taking the lead two minutes after the break, but Adam Barrett’s looping header from a right-wing corner was cleared off the line by Gerrard.

Wimbledon were lucky to survive a 56th-minute appeal for a penalty when Barry Fuller handled inside the area, with referee Jon Moss waving away the Liverpool appeals.

The full-back was not so fortunate five minutes later, though, as he felled Philippe Coutinho with a reckless lunge on the edge of the box.

He was immediately punished by Gerrard, who curled the free kick over the Wimbledon wall and out of the reach of Shea.

Rickie Lambert – who had been anonymous in the opening hour – almost extended their lead even further in the 69th minute, only to fluff his lines.

The striker was released by Gerrard inside the penalty area, but his low shot was kept out by the legs of Shea. Lazar Markovic had all the time in the world to make it 3-1 following a counter-attack, but against fired at Shea.

Gerrard had an opportunity to wrap up a hat-trick with nine minutes remaining, but Shea was alert to deny him as the plucky hosts were narrowly beaten, and the former England captain saw another effort cleared off the line in stoppage time.

The 34-year-old has indicated he will return to Liverpool one day in a non-playing capacity and the Northern Irishman believes the club legend has a lot to offer

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has backed Steven Gerrard to thrive in a coaching role if he opts to take that route after retiring.

Gerrard will leave Anfield at the end of the season after 17 years with the club, 12 of them as captain, and head for the USA to play in MLS.

That will likely take the former England skipper up to the end of his playing career.

Another Anfield favourite, Jamie Carragher, has carved out a reputable career as a television pundit after bowing out from the game in 2013.

But Rodgers believes the “gold dust” that Gerrard could pass on to the stars of tomorrow makes him an ideal coaching candidate.

“I do genuinely believe that he is that type, he can offer great advice,” Rodgers told the club’s official website. “It’s whether it’s something that he wants to do.

“When players retire and finish, they have been in this cauldron for so many years and especially with the eyes on you at a club like this here.

“They move away and they might find that after a year or two out of it, it’s actually not something they want to do and there are other opportunities for them that are maybe less stressful than moving into coaching and management.

“From my perspective here, the experience that he has of Liverpool as a club and those little bits of gold dust that he can give players would be invaluable to young players.”

Though in no doubt over Gerrard’s capacity for an off-field role, Rodgers tempered any thoughts that the 34-year-old should move straight into management after playing.

“Moving into coaching and management is not something you just click your fingers and move into,” the Northern Irishman added. “There’s a lot of work, lot of hours, lot of time and a lot of commitment that has to go into that.

“I always say that if you want to move into coaching or management, take two or three years to really get your eye in on it, because it’s not something that you can just click your fingers and walk into – it’s a pressure situation.

“You see coaches coming in on the back of managers, learning the ropes and then maybe one day moving on in that field.

“For Steven, that would be a great opportunity for him to do that, but time will tell if that’s something that he’s really interested in.”

The 34-year-old has announced he will leave the club at the end of the season, but Brendan Rodgers insists the midfielder’s playing time will not be prioritised

Liverpool turn their attention to Monday’s FA Cup third-round tie with AFC Wimbledon following Steven Gerrard’s decision to leave Anfield at the end of the season.

The 34-year-old has announced that he will move to the MLS at the end of the season after 26 years at Anfield.

All the talk ahead of Monday’s tie has understandably been of Gerrard’s exit and manager Brendan Rodgers insists he is not under pressure to play the midfielder in every game before he leaves at the end of the campaign.

“I’ll always pick what I think is the best team for the games,” the Liverpool boss told reporters.

“Every football player is the same – they want to play every minute of every game, and Steven is no different. He understands where it’s at and the number of games we’ve been playing, and that there might be times that he has to come out of the team.

“There is no change to that – I’ll remain clear on picking the team based on trying to get the best physicality out of the team.”

Wimbledon striker Adebayo Akinfenwa is a lifelong Liverpool supporter, but the 16-stone forward will put any affinity to the Premier League club to one side at Kingsmeadow.

“It doesn’t get any bigger than this. To play against my boyhood team will be the highlight of my career,” said Akinfenwa.

“John Barnes was my idol growing up and he’s the reason I’ve supported Liverpool. I play nothing like him, though!

“I,ve only been to Anfield once, I couldn’t really afford to get up there when I was younger, so on a personal level it would have been nice to have the tie played there. Our best chance to win is to have the game here. We prefer to have it here as a team.”

Liverpool have lost just one of their last 11 games in all competitions, but made a disappointing start to the year by drawing 2-2 with struggling Leicester City on New Year’s Day after being two goals up at half-time.

Gerrard scored both goals from the penalty spot against Nigel Pearson’s side and it remains to be seen if he will feature against Wimbledon or whether Rodgers will rest the 34-year-old.

Dejan Lovren could be recalled to the Liverpool side, while fellow defender Martin Skrtel is available after serving a suspension and Mario Balotelli will be hoping to play some part after he was not even on the bench against Leicester.

Wimbledon, who have won their last two games and sit 11th in League Two, are set to welcome back Sammy Moore after he recovered from illness.