Lucas Impressed By Allen

Lucas Leiva has revealed how Joe Allen is already impressing his new Liverpool team-mates in training.

The Wales international joined the Reds for a reported fee of £15million earlier this month and comes with a reputation for his excellent technique and ball retention skills.

Lucas admits that is already shining through at the club's Melwood training base.

"He had a training session with us and we can see what a quality player he is so hopefully he can be a key player for us during the season," the 25-year-old told the club's official website.

"It's one more player to fight for a place and it's really good for the club. We need more than 11 players to be successful.

"He had a good season last year and he had a great tournament in the Olympics as well. He has confidence and he has experience so hopefully he will do well for us."

Liverpool's season has already begun, having beaten Gomel of Belarus over two legs to qualify for the Europa League play-off round.

And the Brazil international believes there is an advantage to be gained from already having played meaningful football prior to Saturday's Premier League opener against West Brom.

"It's always important to play a competitive game and we had the chance to play two before the Premier League season starts," he added.

"That will give us a good momentum and confidence to have a good start in the Premier League.

"We still have another week to train but I think it was a positive pre-season for us. We have spent a lot of time working and training with the new manager and we will be ready for the start of the new season.

"Hopefully we can start with a good win."

Lucas is wary of setting targets so early in the season but admits a top-four finish must be the aim.

"Of course we have been doing well in pre-season but now it will be a big test for us," said the former Gremio man.

"I think we will have a better idea when the season starts. Let's go game by game and see what we are able to achieve, but hopefully we can get a Champions League spot which is what we are looking for.

"We can see many clubs competing for the top four so it's not going to be easy, unlike four years ago when maybe we only had four teams.

"This is a very difficult league to play in and we just have to make sure we approach every game really well and improve in every game."