Thiago Alcantara admits Liverpool team-mate Fabinho could continue playing at centre-back.

The Brazilian has returned to holding midfielder after filling in at stopper for large portions of this season.

And Thiago believes Fabinho's natural defensive instincts makes a permanent option to move back into defence.

"I think that Fabio, you can already count on him as a defender because this defensive function is a virtue of his," Thiago told ESPN Brasil, via the Mirror.

"He already played like this, before he was the defensive midfielder. You lose a midfield player, it's having a weakness that you had in the midfield before, now, with him, it's a consistency that he gives.

"And the freedom to be able to play more. I think we are all capable of acting in the role, but Fabio is what he does in the best possible way."

On Liverpool, Thiago added: "The greatest quality of this team, me talking to them before playing, is the resilience of year after year Liverpool had before getting the titles.

"This resilience was evolving, winning more and more titles, this year, the same thing.

"With the lack of fans, the team needs to give this extra shift to compete for the title. Even so, the team wants to continue winning, scoring goals. This is the main thing, that the team continues with this hunger intact."