Rodgers Discusses Luis Suarez's Mindset As United Match Looms

Brendan Rodgers says Luis Suarez is raring to get back on the pitch as the striker completes a special training regime to get him in top shape for Liverpool's League Cup match with Manchester United.

Suarez has been serving a 10 game ban after the Uruguay international was caught biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic last season. It wasn't the first time he had committed such an offence, being banned for seven games in his time at Ajax for biting PSV's Otman Bakkal.

After a busy summer for the hitman, in which he first claimed he wanted to leave England, and then pushed for a move to Arsenal, his return to competitive action for Liverpool will no doubt be in the spotlight when he takes to the pitch on 25 September.

And Rodgers has given an insight into how the star is feeling as he prepares for his return, saying he's more desperate to get back into the game than ever.

"I won't say (strikers) miss it more, but they miss it in a different way," the manager said of whether Suarez was missing playing. "Suarez loves the game and if he doesn't play the game, it kills him.

"The integral part of it all is the game. That's what he is. And if you put him in that environment where he's smelling the smelling salts and the changing room, it can be counterproductive, so we're going to keep him out of the way."

Rodgers also revealed that Suarez has been completing a special training program to keep him match fit, with secret games taking place to prepare the 26 year old for what will be a particularly important game for Liverpool in terms of their chase for silverware.

He explained: "We tried to map something out over the period he's been out. He's played some games in pre-season, but when the league got started we organised some 11 v 11 matches behind closed doors, both among ourselves and bringing teams in.

"He's had international games as well that have kept him ticking over. He's been doing a lot of specific work to replicate what he would do in a game, high-intensity work. It's never quite the same as a game but at least he's getting the work.

"So if he does 1,000 high-intensity runs in a game, he's been replicating that in training. There are things such as the crowd, the anxiety that you can't replicate. But what you can at least do is put him to a level of fitness where his numbers are replicated and that keeps him at a high level.

"The idea is that when we bring him back, it will be very smooth. There'll be a transitional period. I'm really looking forward to having him back. He's working his socks off. At the end of sections he's getting tagged on to do specific work and he's flushing himself out to the max to be as fit as he can."