Simon: Vital we got back to winning ways
Simon Mignolet insists the fact that Liverpool halted a run of five games without a win against Stoke City on Saturday meant more to him than his third clean sheet of the season.
Mignolet was kept busy by the visitors, particularly in the second half when the game erupted into life at Anfield and the Belgian had to produce a handful of stops to ensure the Reds emerged with a 1-0 victory.
Glen Johnson's 85th-minute header brought relief around the stadium and ultimately settled the game - but not before Mignolet had foiled Mame Biram Diouf and held onto a swerving drive from distance by Jonathan Walters.
Even after Johnson's late intervention there was work to do, with the ever-dangerous Bojan Krkic posing more problems for the home side with a vicious volley from range, which Mignolet managed to push over the bar.
After seven tense minutes of added time, the referee signalled a Liverpool victory and Mignolet was able to reflect on a defensive performance which represented an improvement on that of recent weeks.
"It is always pleasing as a goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet but the most important thing is to get back to winning ways and hopefully we can build a bit of momentum now," he told Press Association Sport.
"If you play at home you want to win games and we did the job and that is all that counts. There is another game on Tuesday [against Leicester] and we will look forward to that one.
"I deal with a good performance the same as a poor performance - you have to accept it and move on. What I did after the Ludogorets game was look forward to the next game and that is what I will do again today."
Brendan Rodgers opted to bring Jose Enrique into his back-four for the game against the Potters, keeping Kolo Toure alongside Martin Skrtel after the pair partnered in the middle for the Reds' Champions League clash against Ludogorets.
Mignolet insists Toure exerted a positive influence over the defence, praising the Ivorian's professionalism off the pitch and the manner in which the centre-back has waited for an opportunity to feature this season.
He said: "[Kolo] can help the team and organise them, so we know what to expect from him and he works his socks off every day in training and is always ready when the gaffer needs him."