Liverpool’s Loris Karius backed by Simon Mignolet to return stronger

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet believes his teammate Loris Karius will bounce back after being dropped following a number of high-profile errors.

Mignolet replaced Karius in goal for the Reds’ 3-0 win over Middlesbrough on Wednesday night following the latter’s recent costly mistakes against Bournemouth and West Ham United.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said earlier this week that there is no timescale for Karius’ return to the starting lineup, but Mignolet, who endured a similar experience in the 2014-15 season, insists the summer signing from Mainz will respond positively.

“The goalkeeper position is not an easy one. You can only speak about it if you are a goalkeeper yourself,” Mignolet is quoted as saying by the Liverpool Echo. “We are teammates so of course I have sympathy. I am 28 now and I have been through it as well. At a club like Liverpool, one mistake gets really big out of nothing. I know what it is like and it’s not nice.

“The most important thing is Liverpool Football Club. No individual is more important than the club. Obviously for Loris it won’t be nice but he is more than capable and professional enough to deal with that and learn from it. He will get stronger.

“It’s a funny story because we have got our goalies’ union Christmas dinner on Thursday so we will go out for food. All the goalies at Melwood will go out. Boggie [Adam Bogdan] with his injury will probably miss it but there will probably be around 10 of us. All the young boys will come along as well. We will keep it a secret where we go.

“The goalies union is something special. We only know our situation and what it is like. I do not want to speak too much about it as we are teammates, we have to get through it and we all have to push each other. Competition will get us far. I want to keep quiet and look out for my own performances.”

Mignolet started the campaign as Liverpool’s No. 1 while Karius was out nursing a broken hand sustained during preseason.

The Belgium international was then replaced by Karius in October, before Klopp informed him on Tuesday that he would return to the team for the Middlesbrough game.

“I always try to be ready in this kind of period,” Mignolet said. “I am somebody who thinks about training for yourself and you have to make sure you keep fit and healthy and ready.

“In football, things can change very quickly with an injury or an illness. Therefore you have to look after yourself, stay professional, keep your head down, work hard and off the pitch stay focused, which is not always easy, especially as a keeper. As a striker you can come on to help the team at certain moments but here you have to wait for your chance to come and try to be ready.

“I only knew I was playing on Tuesday and then I had to focus on my own job to make sure I was ready to play. You have to be mentally strong as a keeper.”