Mario unfazed by pressure, claims Pascoe

Mario Balotelli is not affected by the scrutiny he is under and has the hunger to succeed as a Liverpool player, according to Reds assistant boss, Colin Pascoe.

Balotelli has scored just once in 11 appearances for the Merseysiders and left his manager Brendan Rodgers less than impressed last week when he swapped shirts with Pepe at half-time in the 3-0 Champions League loss to Real Madrid.

Rodgers was complimentary about Balotelli’s performance in Saturday’s 0-0 Premier League draw with Hull, though, and has since spoken of his confidence in the Italy international’s willingness to “learn”.

Asked if the attention focused upon Balotelli (pictured) was having an effect on the 24-year-old, Pascoe said: “Nothing really. He works hard, he is a great talent and every day on the training pitch, you can see he wants to do more. At the end he is always asking to do more things. Everything will be alright with Mario because his hunger is there and he wants to win.”