Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren believes that a good pre-season will see him return to the form that persuaded the club to spend £20m on him in the summer.

The Croatia international became the club's most expensive defender of all time last year when he signed from Southampton, but he has fallen behind Emre Can, Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho in the pecking order with Brendan Rodgers favouring a three-man defence.

However, Lovren thinks that a full pre-season with Rodgers's squad will stand him in good stead ahead of next term.

He told the club's official website: "It will be my first pre-season tour with the team, along with all of the lads to prepare for next season.

"It's one of the most important parts of the season; you build your team there and your strength for the whole season. Hopefully I'll be in good shape and ready for next season."

Liverpool will travel to Australia as part of their pre-season preparations in July.