Johnson trusting Suarez

The Uruguay international made his return from an eight-match ban for racially abusing United's Patrice Evra on Monday when he made a substitute appearance in Liverpool's goalless draw with Tottenham.

The 25-year-old frontman got a warm reception from the Anfield crowd as he played his first game since Boxing Day but can expect a much more hostile atmosphere when his side travel to Manchester United on Saturday.

Despite the usually fiery encounter having extra significance England international Johnson believes his team-mate will concentrate on playing football rather than the added scrutiny.

Tough

"It is a tough place to go Old Trafford. Luis is a strong character and he will try to let his football do the talking," he said.

"He is a fantastic player, he has had a long break now and hopefully he will be fresh and ready to put in a performance at the weekend.

"He is the sort of player we need in the team."

Liverpool have registered just 20 points at Anfield and 19 away from home while holding the Premier League's lowest chance-to-goal conversion rate at around 9% which could prove detrimental to Champions League dreams.

The Reds trail Chelsea by four points with the Blues currently occupying the elusive fourth-place spot which provides evidence of how costly 16 points dropped on home turf have been.

Frustrating

"When you hear stats like that it doesn't sound good at all but I don't think performances have reflected that," Johnson added.

"We have been playing better than the eight draws out of 12 shows but that is football. It is always frustrating when you don't win and you play as well as that against Spurs.

"They are a fantastic team and we did enough to win the game but it was one of those days. They had pace on the break and so they set up deep and tried to catch us on the counter and that is difficult to break down at times.

"We had a couple of decent chances and sometimes in games like that you only get one and you take it and win it 1-0."