Steven Gerrard rues Luis Suarez absence

Steven Gerrard has admitted that Liverpool's season suffered when Luis Suarez was banned at the start of the year.

The striker was suspended by the Football Association for eight games after he was found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra during a match in October.

"I think what did hurt was when we lost Luis for the games because he's one of the best players in the world," Gerrard told RTE.

"If you lose one of the best players in the world it's going to have an effect on the team. It was the loss of the player that hurt the team the most."

Suarez joined the Reds from Ajax in January 2011 for around £22m.