Glen Johnson plays down Luis Suarez absence

Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has played down the significance of Luis Suarez's exit from the club.

Suarez, who joined Barcelona for around £75m last month, scored 31 goals en route to winning the PFA and FWA Player of the Season awards last term, as the Reds finished runners-up to Manchester City.

However, England international Johnson highlighted the club's impressive form during Suarez's ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic at the beginning of last season as proof that they can thrive without him this coming campaign.

The Mirror quotes him as saying: "It's been overlooked that we played the first six games of last season without Luis and made a fantastic start, so we can win without him.

"If you want to win the league, the start of every season is important whoever you play.

"We've got some big teams early on and sometimes that can be a good thing, sometimes a bad thing. Hopefully we will win those games, give us a good start and damage our rivals."

Liverpool begin their season with a visit from Southampton on August 17.