Mane: 'Keita will be great for us'

Sadio Mane is certain Naby Keita will achieve greatness at Anfield despite a stuttering start to his Liverpool career. Keita showed flashes of promise in the opening weeks of the season but is yet to find the form that won him widespread admiration at RB Leipzig.

The Guinea midfielder's adjustment has been stalled by a hamstring strain which sidelined him for a month. Mane, who played alongside Keita at Austrian side Salzburg, believes the 23-year-old will in time prove his talent in the Premier League.

"He is a great player and also young. He still has a lot to learn and improve," Senegal winger Mane told Premier League Productions.

"When he came he surprised everyone but not me, because I know him. I'm sure he will do great things for us. Now he is back with the team and we are happy to have him. I'm looking forward to seeing him helping the team as he can."

Liverpool have avoided defeat in each of their 12 league matches this term without completely capturing their sparkling best of last season. Mane put the onus on the players to lift their level.

"Maybe in a few games we haven't played as we can and expect to play, but we have to deal with it and try to work as hard as we can, and push individually to do better again," he said.

"We could do better – that's part of football. We'd love to do better for the team and the club. We have had a better start than last season, now we have important games coming and we’re going to try to do our best."