Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has praised Mario Balotelli following his hard-working performance in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
The talented Italian striker, who joined the Reds from AC Milan for £16million recently, scored his first goal for his new club in their dramatic 2-1 Group B victory over Ludogorets Razgrad.
Balotelli's output for Liverpool at Anfield was not all top class but Rodgers feels the at times controversial hitman worked his socks off for his team in order to give them something else when he knew he was not at his best.
"As a coach you will always have players who are high maintenance and players who are low maintenance for different reasons," Rodgers said.
"He's a good boy and I think you can see that he's prepared to work.
"You saw his work rate against Ludogorets and, OK, the ball has bounced off him a couple of times and we're trying to improve him in the transitions so that when he makes a mistake he can go after it, but I think you can see what he's trying to put in for the team. That's going to be very important.
"The crowd demand that because the players who've been here in the past in that position have been non-stop and he's becoming attuned to that. He's aware of the demands and it's going to take time but if he continues to score goals and work hard like he has done then he will be fine, because he's obviously got the quality."
