"Steven was minding his own business when this bloke started a row with him, apparently over nothing," the tabloid quoted a witness as saying.

"He squared up to Stevie and was shouting abuse. Before anyone knew what was happening the man had thrown a punch.

"Thankfully he didn’t connect properly — probably because he was quite drunk. Steven looked as shocked as anyone else. It was unprovoked but Steven didn’t rise to it."

Gerrard is currently with the England squad preparing to face Switzerland away in the EURO 2012 qualifiers.