James Milner is on the cusp of breaking the Premier League's all-time appearance record having equalled the tally.

The 40-year-old Brighton midfielder/full-back is just one games shy of breaking Gareth Barry's record of 653.

With plenty of games left this season, barring injury, it is all but certain that the former Liverpool man will break the record of his former Aston Villa and Manchester City teammate.

Milner's most recent appearance came as he was introduced off the bench for Brighton's game against Everton. His introduction in the 96th minute meant the three-time Premier League winner will need just one more appearances to match Barry, and two appearances to claim the record outright.

Milner's 653rd appearance was in Brighton's most recent Premier League match against Villa, when he came off the bench to replace Carlos Baleba after 22 minutes.

It means his first opportunity to claim the outright record with a 654th appearance is on Saturday Feb. 21 when Brighton travel to face Brentford.

Brighton have 12 league games remaining this season, meaning Milner should be well-placed to take top spot in the appearance table.

He is currently second, with Ryan Giggs (632 appearances) in third. Frank Lampard (609) and David James (572) complete the top five.

After them, Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer (544), Gary Speed (535), Emile Heskey (516), Jamie Carragher (508) and Phil Neville (505) round out the top-10.

So far this season, Milner has appeared in 13 Premier League games with one goal and an assist to his name.

He made his Premier League debut in November 2002, playing for Leeds against West Ham. At the time, aged 16 years and 309 days, he was the Premier League's second-youngest player.

Milner has played for six clubs in total, moving from his hometown Leeds to Newcastle before also playing for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool and now Brighton.

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