Kolo Toure backs Mario Balotelli improvement at Liverpool

Kolo Toure has backed Liverpool teammate Mario Balotelli to start scoring regularly after finding the net during Tuesday's win over Swansea City in the League Cup.

The striker came off the bench late on at Anfield to equalise for the Reds before Dejan Lovren headed home in injury time to secure a 2-1 victory in the fourth round.

Balotelli's form has come under intense criticism in recent weeks, but Toure believes that the Italian will now begin to prove his worth in the final third for the Merseysiders.

"For strikers, goals are like food," the defender told the Liverpool Echo. "Mario needs to feed himself by scoring goals. Now that he has got one, he will do that, definitely.

"Getting that goal will be fantastic for his confidence. He is a great player, he has just been lacking goals. He is one of the best. He has just been missing goals but they will come now."

Liverpool are back in Premier League action on Saturday when they travel to Newcastle United.