Liverpool legend John Aldridge claims that Lucas Leiva has added years to his career by successfully auditioning for the centre-back role.

The Brazilian put in an impressive performance at the central defensive position in the defeat to Manchester City in the final of the Capital One Cup which ended in penalties.

His performance was such that Kop get Aldridge believes he can turn his hand as a centre-half and prolong his career rather than trying to compete with the quicker and younger midfielders.

"If there was one person who didn't deserve to end up on the losing side on Sunday, it was Lucas," Aldridge wrote in his Liverpool Echo column.

"For me, he had his best game in a Liverpool shirt. It was a surprise selection, but he justified it 100%. It was such a shame he had to be one of the ones to miss from the spot.

"He's an option now at centre back, for sure. He might just have added years onto his Reds career.

"We have four senior centre backs, and they're all much of a muchness. What Lucas does is he reads the game, he talks and leads, and he can play the ball out from the back too.

"He was brilliant winning headers and judging the play in his own penalty area - he reminded me of Carra at times, and that's high praise indeed!

"Modern centre backs don't play like they did in my day. They don't have to be 6ft 5in - look at (Javier) Mascherano at Barcelona - but they need to read the game and be able to communicate.

"Lucas can do that, for sure."