LIVERPOOL midfielder Lucas hopes that Kenny Dalglish’s faith in his abilities can lead to a Champions League return for the Reds.

The 24-year-old has been selected in all bar two of Dalglish’s starting line-ups since his return to the club as manager and said: “I have no reasons to go and I hope the club see things the same.

“It would be fantastic to play for Liverpool in the Champions League again and I don’t see why we can’t return.

“We have a squad that is united in its will and desire to return this club to where it belongs.”

The Brazilian struggled to adapt to the Premier League following his move to Anfield from Gremio in 2007 and faced some criticism from the Liverpool faithful, which he felt was unfair.

Lucas believes the fans’ expectations of him were heightened due to the country of his birth and the fact that the club had been in two Champions League finals in three seasons.

“Things were not looking good and some supporters were obviously not happy,” he said. “But I still think people need to see the bigger picture.

“The move to Liverpool represented a change of country, language and there was also that I was only 20 and arriving at the club in one of the most demanding leagues in the world.

“Also, few people seemed to remember Liverpool had a group of players that had made two of the last three Champions League finals. It would have been impossible to just parachute in.

“Maybe the supporters thought a Brazilian midfielder would do just magic.”

Meanwhile, SERBIA coach Vladimir Petrovic has called for Milan Jovanovic to be given more game time at Liverpool.

And the international boss has described the World Cup star as a “special” player.

Jovanovic transformed a struggling Serbian performance against Northern Ireland on Friday night, but has featured only twice for Liverpool since Kenny Dalglish returned as manager.