Sunderland boss Paolo di Canio has urged Luis Suarez to stay with Liverpool and prove his character to the critics.

Di i Canio said Suarez "can't be a cannibal" and joked that the Liverpool striker hadn't beaten his own ban length - an 11-game suspension for shoving referee Paul Alcock to the ground when playing for Sheffield Wednesday in 1998.

Di Canio said: "He didn't beat me, it was 11 games! - that was a joke!

"I hope if he stays in England he tries to understand you can't bite the arms off people. You can't be a cannibal!"

But Di Canio reckons the shock of such a long suspension will help Suarez, and insists he can stick it out at Anfield and "show he's a normal person."