Liverpool fullback Steve Finnan has backed teammate Ryan Babel for success at Anfield.

"Ryan is still very young and there's no guarantee with youngsters that they will develop into top class players - but he appears to have the potential to do exactly that," Finnan told liverpoolfc.tv.

"Even though it may take a while before we see him at his best. It was obvious that the boss was attempting to add some more creativity before the season started, and I think he's done that with the arrival of Ryan, as well Fernando Torres, Andriy Voronin and Yossi Benayoun.

"After Luis [Garcia] got injured against Arsenal last year I think it's fair to say we sometimes struggled to produce the unusual that's needed to open up tight defences or break the deadlock.

"Then when he departed in the summer, the boss needed to bring in someone with similar qualities. Those kind of players are vital for any side with ambitions and Ryan appears to be one of them.

"He's a big, powerful lad who is very tricky and could be capable of pieces of brilliance that will hopefully win games single-handedly. We've seen bits of that in training and the fans have had a small taste of it in some games. Away at Sunderland, he produced a terrific run that led to one of the goals, and he also got on the scoresheet against Derby."