Joe Allen believes on current form Liverpool are better without Luis Suarez

Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen has claimed that Liverpool have taken a step forward compared to last season and believes that on current form they are better than they were with Luis Suarez in the team.

The Uruguayan striker was a key player for the Merseyside club in their push for the Premier League title last season as he went on to top score for the club and also win both the Football Players' and Writers' player of the year awards.

However, the striker's red hot form saw him attract the attention of Catalan giants Barcelona and he completed a £75m summer move to the Camp Nou following the World Cup. As expected Liverpool failed to cope with his loss and had a tough start to the new Premier League season.

The Reds failed to replicate their form from the previous year and with the manager failing to replace the quality of Suarez, it was believed that the Merseyside club will struggle to get back in the Champions League. However, following initial struggles, the club have now hit top form and are closing in on Arsenal and Manchester United in the battle for a place in the top four.

The former Swansea City midfielder believes Liverpool are over the initial hiccup of losing their top scorer and has credited the new system being employed by Brendan Rodgers as one of the reasons for their recent upturn in form, which has seen them go on a 10-match unbeaten run in the league.

"At the start of the season we talked about how losing Suarez was going to have an affect but now we have overcome that. It took us a little bit of time because the injury problems we had were not ideal," Allen said, as quoted by the Mirror.

"We are certainly back up to that level now and, if anything with the different system we play this season, we might even have taken a step forward," the Reds midfielder explained.

"We have a more clinical edge now than we did at the start of the season. That's grown with our momentum and picking up points – it tends to happen that way."

"We would have wished it was earlier than it has been, but we've still got plenty of time left this season to really go on and achieve things," the 24-year-old Welshman added.