Lucas Leiva admits he has struggled at Liverpool Football Club.

The Brazilian midfielder has come in for some criticism from Reds fans during his short spell to date in England, and he admits he has taken his time to settle in England.

"Everybody knows I had difficult times here, especially with the people who criticised me,” Lucas told The Times. “The style of football in the Premier League is totally different to Brazil.

"I know people sometimes expect Brazilian footballers to play a certain way, but I am in a different position, where you cannot do those things and you have to work for the team.

"This is my mentality, to try to help my team-mates. I cannot think too much of the criticism. All I can do is try and do my job and hopefully this will be good enough.

"Me and Javier (Mascherano) have to be aware of the counter-attack because we have to make sure that we give the defenders our support. Every team needs these kind of players."

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