Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is delighted to count on the influence of veteran defender Jamie Carragher.

Rodgers has already hit it off with Carragher and feels the defensive stalwart is a kindred spirit.

"I've had a couple of really good football conversations with Jamie already," he said. "I love his enthusiasm and passion for football.

"He's got a good knowledge of the game and is interested, which is the important factor.

"You get some players and football is their life and their work who aren't interested in football.

"Jamie is like myself in that he will probably sit up until two o'clock on a Sunday morning watching German football, having watched five or six games before that."