Jason McAteer believes Jurgen Klopp made the right call in starting Simon Mignolet ahead of Loris Karius against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday as to drop the Belgian would have destroyed his confidence.
Mignolet, who Klopp drafted in Karius to replace as Liverpool's number 1, came under fire for his performance in the Reds' disastrous defeat away at Hull City last weekend.
And in the build up to the Spurs game it was speculated that Karius, who was dropped himself because of poor performances, could be slotted back into the side to replace Mignolet.
Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 and McAteer thinks Klopp made the right choice in Mignolet as to drop him would have been hugely mentally damaging.
"It was a big talking point through the week what Jurgen Klopp was going to do with Karius and Mignolet", McAteer said on LFC TV after the game.
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"He [Mignolet] made the mistake last week at Hull, but I think it would have been so damaging to him mentally to take him out of the team.
"You've got to show faith in a player.
"He's going to make a mistake, which he did last week, but you've got to show faith because that produces confidence as he thinks the manager's behind him."
And McAteer thinks Mignolet did well against Tottenham, adding: "He needed to play and he did, and he played really well."
Karius has been turning out for Liverpool in cup games of late, but with the Reds out of the FA Cup and EFL Cup, he could potentially have a long wait to feature again if Klopp keeps faith with Mignolet.
