Jürgen Klopp says Simon Mignolet will keep his place for Liverpool's clash with Huddersfield Town and that it was never once in his thinking to drop the goalkeeper.

The Belgian endured a torrid afternoon in the Reds' last outing as they were thrashed 4-1 by Tottenham Hotspur, his decision-making for the first and fourth goals particularly questionable.

While he was not the sole player to blame, Mignolet's performance was notably poor and had led to speculation that he could be dropped with Loris Karius and Danny Ward the manager's other options for No.1.

But as the Merseyside outfit gear up to host the newly-promoted Terriers, who are only three places below them in 12th after nine games, Klopp has confirmed Mignolet will start in goal.

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"Defensive issues are collective, not individual" 

"Simon will play. I didn't think a second about changing this position," he told reporters, declaring that it would "absolutely" be unfair to drop Mignolet despite his poor performance against Spurs.

Mignolet and centre-back Dejan Lovren came in for particular criticism for the roles they played in a heavy defeat at Wembley, but Klopp refused to condemn individuals and rather bemoaned their defending as an entire team. 

The German acknowledged: "Could Simon have done better for the fourth goal and pushed it [the cross] wider? Yes. Dejan, the first goal, that was 100 per-cent collective."

He explained that the second goal that Liverpool conceded "was difficult to defend [and explain] afterwards" but that "in the same situation again, 99 time out of 100, he [Lovren] will deal with it."

Klopp admitted it was "difficult to defend" the Croatian defender's "personal mistake" but declared that "these things happen" and that they "don't have to hide things like this" but also "don't have to make things bigger" by calling for him to be dropped.

"A lot of things were really collective and yeah the second goal was individual, while Simon knows with the fourth goal, when he is there it would be nice if he could keep the ball a little more," he continued.

Yet Klopp reasoned that it was "the first mistake" he can remember "from Simon in the last few weeks" and said that "people go for him" and "the criticism is harsh."

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Klopp: Reds must work on being alert

Liverpool have conceded 16 goals in nine top-flight games, their worst record at this stage since 1964-65, but have leaked only one of those at Anfield.

Yet Klopp noted that they "don't concede a lot of shots on target still" and said: "Three against Watford; first game of the season, these things can happen. Add the Manchester City game and the Tottenham game, that's already 12 conceded, which makes it not so nice."

The 50-year-old insisted that he and his staff "don't ignore" their record and accepted that it is "true" that they have "made mistakes", calling the ones committed against City "a completely different element from all the other mistakes."

"We were one man down and were not too smart," the Reds boss reflected, insisting that they "have to work really hard on the detail."

Looking ahead to the visit of Huddersfield, he revealed: "We did that this week. We've had time to train and hopefully everybody will see it tomorrow."

On what Liverpool must specifically work on improving, Klopp believes awareness and concentration are specifics that they should focus on.

He said that there are "little things" where their back-line "have to help each other" and where they "need to have protection."

Klopp highlighted the second goal Liverpool conceded against Spurs and said: "Yes, there was an individual mistake from Dejan, but Joël [Matip] should've been much closer to the situation. Protection is for the moment when protection is needed. There are 500 times when you don't have to be there, but you're there for the one time when he misses the ball. We have these things where we have to do better."

The Liverpool manager also reflected on how his side "were so good" at defending throw-ins "in the last few games" in that they were "lively" and alert, but then missed "five opportunities to clear the situation" for Spurs' first goal.

Klopp said that it "doesn't make sense" how Liverpool allowed their opponents to get in behind via "one ball" which left Harry Kane "alone in front of the 'keeper", adding: "The only thing that could have avoided this situation was to work together to be aware and 100 per-cent spot on."

He added that the issue was "not the system" and "not the personnel", and also dismissed the idea that Liverpool are better at defending at home because rather it is about their opposition.

Klopp said that "it was really bad at Tottenham" and that they conceded several goals at City when they "were down to 10 men" which makes it "nine goals" that really "feels sh*t." 

"Can I change it? I can't change that any more but we can do better in the future. That's what we spoke about," he concluded.

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About the author
Charlie Malam
Digital Sports Writer at the Daily Express. First-class Staffordshire University Sports Journalism graduate. Formerly VAVEL UK's Liverpool FC editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Contributor since June 2014.