You'll have plenty to celebrate when you subscribe to the Liverpool FC newsletter Sign me up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Brendan Rodgers says the impact of Kolo Toure at Anfield has made him reconsider plans to buy another established centre-back.

The Reds boss, who is seeking a left-back and another attacking player before the window shuts, was thwarted in his attempts to sign top defensive target Kyriakos Papadopoulos.

Schalke’s £18million asking price, coupled with concerns about the Greek defender’s fitness following a knee injury, meant Liverpool abandoned their pursuit.

Toure, a free transfer from Manchester City, was initially viewed as a squad player but having impressed in pre-season he now looks set to command a starting role.

Latest pictures from LFC's pre-season tour

“Defensively, I think we’ll be fine,” Rodgers said.

“Kolo has been terrific since he came in here. He may be 32 years of age but he’s super fit and in great condition.

“He’s a player who has looked after himself all his life. His age is no barrier and he’s someone with a winning mentality.

“He’s someone we felt could come in and support the group with his experience and his qualities.

“I’ve looked at him over the course of his career and watched him a lot last year. Having seen him first hand since he joined the club, he will be very good for us this season.

“We have a number of other outstanding centre-halves in Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel. We also have an up-and-coming top talent in Andre Wisdom who will be a very good centre-half for Liverpool in the future. And we still have Sebastian Coates too.”

Rodgers’s squad has received a wonderful reception on the club’s fourth visit to Thailand. Their every move has been followed by thousands of fanatical supporters.

The manager has vowed to make fewer changes for tomorrow’s final tour match against the Thai national team.

“The welcome we’ve had in this wonderful county won’t ever be forgotten,” he said.

“We probably won’t make as many subs as we have done in previous games and some players will get 90 minutes.

“We are playing against a very good Thai team who won their last game 5-1 against China. Technically, they are very good.

“When we started planning pre-season six months ago we wanted each game to be a step up from the previous one and this will be.

“It’s a case of continuing the good work. I asked the players to reclaim the mentality and focus we had in second half of last season and from the first day of pre-season they have been superb.”

Rodgers intends to play Luis Suarez – despite Arsenal’s ongoing pursuit of the Uruguay striker.

“Luis will play some part in the game,” he said. “He’s still getting his fitness up as he’s three weeks behind the other players but the thing about Luis is that he loves the game.

“He lives for the training and playing matches.”

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre confirmed there had been no further discussions with the Gunners with the club still determined to keep hold of Suarez.

“The situation with Luis Suarez remains the same,” Ayre said.

“It has never been our intention to sell Luis. As has been widely reported in the media, we received two separate offers from Arsenal and rejected them both. He remains a Liverpool player and is here with us in Thailand as part of our squad.”