Rio Ferdinand- Steven Gerrard sends flowers to defender over the death of his wife

Liverpool captain Gerrard before their English Premier League game with QPR handed a bouquet of flowers to Joey Barton for Rio Ferdinand

Steven Gerrard earlier today sent flowers toQueens Park Rangers defender,  Rio Ferdinand over the death of his wife Rebecca Ellison.

The wife of the former Manchester Uniteddefender died yesterday after a short battle with breast cancer.

Liverpool captain Gerrard before their English Premier League game with QPR handed a bouquet of flowers to Joey Barton for Rio Ferdinand.

Other football stars have also paid tribute to the wife of the ex-England international.

David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Gary Linekar and Gareth Bale have all sent in their condolences.

Ferdinand's QPR team-mate Leroy Fer also paid tribute to the defender after he scored a second-half equaliser for QPR, revealing a t-shirt with the message 'Stay stong family Ferdinand'.