Dirk Kuyt has hailed Lucas Leiva's strength of character for surviving the Liverpool boo-boys.

The 23-year-old was given a hard time by fans in his first three seasons after arriving from Gremio in a £6m transfer.

However, towards the end of last campaign and the start of this Lucas has been one of the club's best players, and Kuyt believes he is now becoming a great asset.

"Lucas has done really well recently and is developing into a great player," Kuyt said.

"He waited for his chances to come along and stayed focused on what he had to do.

"He has shown a lot of character to come through that and I'm sure all the experiences he's had so far have made him stronger, not only as a footballer but as a person as well.

"There isn't a player in the world who doesn't have good and bad times.

"You just have to make the best of it. When things aren't going the way you want you just have to keep working and Lucas has done that.

"In the last couple of weeks he has really clicked with Raul Meireles; with Lucas as the holding midfielder and Raul as the passing player it has worked really well.

"That's been a big plus for us. Lucas has also got himself into the Brazil team and deserves a lot of credit."