Simon Mignolet: "We must use United defeat as a catalyst for comeback"

Simon Mignolet has insisted Liverpool must bounce back from their loss against Manchester United for the second time this season. 

The Reds went on a 13-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League after a cruel 3-0 loss at Old Trafford, before succumbing to a 2-1 loss at Anfield on Sunday as Juan Mata's brace gave the visitors a huge three points in the top-four race.

Brendan Rodgers' side now sit five points behind their rivals in 5th, with just eight games to go, but Belgian goalkeeper Mignolet - who saved Wayne Rooney's late penalty - believes they can still push for a late charge towards the Champions League places.

"There’s still a lot to play for and when we come back from international duty, we’ve got that big game against Arsenal.

"The game away to Manchester United at Old Trafford we used as a catalyst to put in a lot of good performances – so let’s use this game as a catalyst again when we come back.

"With all the games still to play until the end of the season, we can still do really well. We’ll build on the game and hopefully we can come back and get a run going again like we did after that Old Trafford game."

Mignolet was not called upon too often against Louis van Gaal's men, but was one of the only players to receive credit post-match after a dismal team performance. 

But the goalkeeper says he would rather have came away with a decent result than the plaudits for his penalty save.

"The penalty save isn’t important anymore," Mignolet insisted. "Skrts [Martin Skrtel] had a chance after that, but it wasn’t to be today.

"When you play at home, you always want to win, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.

"They scored in the first half and against a team like Manchester United, it’s always difficult after that.

"In the second half, we tried to come back with a new plan to try to make sure we got a result out of the game. We scored a goal late on, but unfortunately they’d scored a second on the counter-attack and it was difficult.

"With 10 men we fought hard to get something out of the game, but it didn’t happen."