• Champions League

'If people want to call Balotelli a nutter - let them'

Steven Gerrard says Liverpool will stand up and defend Mario Balotelli if he works hard to produce his best for the club - regardless of what the striker's critics say about him.

The captain is optimistic Balotelli can fill the void left by the departure of Luis Suarez and insisted he is now "one of us".

"If people want to write stories about him and say that he is crazy or he is a nutter, let them," Gerrard told the Daily Mail.

"If we get the best out of him, we have got him. If people want to write stories about him and say that he is crazy or he is a nutter, let them, but he is one of us now.

"We have welcomed him into this club with open arms and we want to help him succeed. Everyone is hoping he is going to be a hit. He has got a great set of team-mates who will work for him and back him. He has got to do the same for us."

The comparisons with Suarez will continue to be made this season and the prolific goalscoring standards he set will be hard to match.

The Uruguayan, who arrived at Liverpool from Ajax in 2011, played a key role in firing the club back into the Champions League but made a big-money move to Barcelona during the summer.

Gerrard predicted Suarez will be determined to make his mark in the Champions League after watching with his team-mates from the sidelines but Brendan Rodgers' side are ready to make their own impression.

"There is no doubt Luis Suarez is going to be one of the big players in the Champions League this season," Gerrard said. "I know how much he wants to play in the competition. I had many conversations with him about it. But we have got Mario now and we have got to move on.

Liverpool manager Rodgers said on Monday that he was confident Balotelli would play an important role for the club in the Champions League.

"He's arguably one of the most experienced players here in terms of this level of competition and international calibre," Rodgers said. "The best players enjoy that responsibility. I think it's one he's relishing. On the training field, he's going to work hard to accept that responsibility.

"He knows that he's been brought in here to do a job, which is to create and score goals - and work hard."

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