Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has praised the behaviour of stand-in captain Luis Suarez, saying that the striker's attitude has been exemplary since his controversial biting incident last season.

Suarez was given an extensive ban following a bite on Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic, but Rodgers has said that time away from the game has encouraged Suarez to reform the way he conducts himself.

"In that period there were a lot of difficult moments for him but as he became closer to staying and realising he was going to be playing fairly quickly, he's been exemplary in his behaviour. On the pitch everyone can see the maturity and his level of performance speaks for itself," said Rodgers, according to the Irish Independent.

"I can't remember exactly what I said to him immediately after the incident, but I felt he needed to get away totally as soon as he could. I brought him in and we had a conversation that will remain private.

"His wife's family are in Barcelona so I sent him away because he needed to get out of the country. There's no doubt it was the lowest moment of his career and he probably felt the world was against him. But that's provided the trigger for him to recuperate and he's been outstanding."

Liverpool currently find themselves sitting in fourth spot in the Premier League table.