It is fair to say Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has had a complete turn-around in form since a spell on the bench – all for being subbed on after Brad Jones’ injury on Boxing Day.
The ‘keeper has been an outstanding performer for the Reds recently helping secure Liverpool’s trip to Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals with a clean sheet at Blackburn Rovers, before managing a shut-out against Newcastle United on Monday.
The 2-0 home win over the Magpies meant that Mignolet could add another clean sheet to his collection meaning that this calendar year he has twelve clean sheets to his name.
But to boss Brendan Rodgers’ there’s two aspects of Mignolet’s game that have pleased the boss the most, its the Belgian’s commanding of his area and decision making that have impressed the Northern Irish manager since January.
"Simon's always been an outstanding 'keeper but like all players he went through a difficult moment," the boss commented. "His response to that has been outstanding. He's stayed very calm.
"He's stuck to his game and analysed his game and I think you can see his performance level now is back up to the level that he would want and what we would want. He's been outstanding.
"He made two great saves against Blackburn the other night. That's a big strength of his - he's a brilliant shot-stopper. He's shown in this last three months what a really good 'keeper he is.
"It's just continual work with him on domination. What we say to the outfield players is the same with the goalkeeper - be dominant.
"I'd always rather have a goalkeeper come out and make a mistake than not come out. A 'keeper that just stands on the line, I don't like. I like one who can be aggressive, come and command his box and punch the ball. Sometimes he'll make a mistake but I will take that.
"But he's made very few and you see him now, he'll come out and put his fist on it, he's aggressive and that's the improvement he's made, which has been great. It's just the mentality. You can over-think sometimes, I think he's mentioned that himself.
"The number of chats we had were to reinforce his quality and remind him why we brought him here. Then it's about delivering that on the stage. Now he's much more fluent and instinctive in how he thinks."
The stats back Mignolet’s upsurge in form. From August to January, the 'keeper has conceded nineteen goals in fifteen appearances, since Liverpool’s 1-0 win at Turf Moor, The Belgian has conceded just twelve times since.
