AFC Wimbledon hero Adebayo Akinfenwa can't believe Liverpool are allowing Steven Gerrard to leave.

Gerrard struck twice in Liverpool's FA Cup win over Wimbledon on Monday.

"To lose him, boy, I don't know the future, but it will be a problem," said Akinfenwa, who rattled his beloved Reds with an equaliser for AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup third round before Gerrard won it with a free-kick to fuel the debate about his plans to move to the United States.

"You can see he was the difference. If he didn't play, it would have been a different story. He was miles better than anybody on the pitch. Sometimes when you play against people you can just use the word "class". That's what it is. Two moments of magic won the game.

"I'm not trying to blow no smoke up anywhere. I'm saying he is the difference and Liverpool will lose that. I don't want to see him go. Not just as a Liverpool supporter but as a lover of football. He will be a massive miss."

Akinfenwa swapped shirts with Gerrard after the final whistle.

"I just spoke to him quickly," he said. "I was like: 'Look, don't go, I'm a fan, please don't go, man'. He just smiled. Nobody can begrudge Steven Gerrard doing what he wants to do. He's been a legend. If he needs to go to pastures new, so be it.

"It is down to Liverpool to try to do everything to keep him and get him to stay, but if he has made his mind up, he has made his mind up. All you can do is wish him on his merry way and hope he comes back as manager one day."