Sebastian Coates has offered an update on his recuperation from a long-term knee injury, revealing he's pleased with the progress he's made so far on the road to full fitness.

The centre-back is likely to miss much of 2013-14 after sustaining a knee injury in August while on international duty with Uruguay.

However, Coates is confident he's on the right track to a return.

He told Liverpoolfc.com: "I'm making progress slowly but surely. It's an injury that takes a long time this one, and you have to work hard on a day-to-day basis to recover, but fortunately that's what I'm doing and so I hope to come back fit and well just as soon as I can.

"It's been going very well. As I said, it's a long recovery process for this injury and I think it's more about how you are psychologically in your head and trying to keep positive in order to be able to get back to full fitness as quickly as possible.

"You always think positively, I think that's the most important thing. In my case, I keep myself going by focusing on getting back as quickly as I can, and with the national team, the World Cup is another goal to help me with my recovery."

Coates has been a keen observer from the sidelines as Liverpool have made an impressive start to the campaign.

In particular, the 23-year-old has been captivated by the form of his compatriot, Luis Suarez - a player he believes ranks well within the upper echelons of the global game.

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"In my opinion he's in the world's top three players," said Coates. "Certainly when it comes to attacking players, he's up there with the best.

"He's in some great form at the moment and let's hope it continues as he's very important, not just for his goalscoring but also for his overall contribution to the team."

Reflecting on the team's start as a whole, Coates concluded: "So far everything has been very positive, both in the way of results and performances.

"The team are looking really good. Let's hope it continues and we keep up the run of good results."