Loris Karius admits he found it 'difficult' waiting for his Premier League chance in the early stages of this season but believes the patience he showed is starting to pay off.

In the early parts of the season, the 24-year-old only found himself in Champions League games with Simon Mignolet being Jürgen Klopp's first choice in the Premier League. However, in recent weeks Karius has found himself Klopp's first choice in all competitions.

The former Mainz 05 keeper is determined to keep his place after Klopp selected Karius for last month's top-flight meeting with Manchester City, the German manager revealed his intention to give his compatriot a run of games.

Karius has repaid his managers faith by producing some eye-catching performances that included a fine penalty save to deny Premier League top-scorer Harry Kane in a thrilling 2-2 draw with top-four rivals Tottenham Hotspurs.

Reflecting on his journey this term, Karius told the Liverpool Echo: “It was difficult in the first half of the season but I didn’t do too bad.

“I still had high quality games in the Champions League and I knew my chance would come in the Premier League.

“I went in and out of the team a bit but I showed the manager that when he needs me I’m there.

“Of course I was happy with the decision. You get more in a routine game by game but I know I need to keep performing.

“I’ve been working well on the training pitch. My head is right. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from last season and I feel good.”

"That’s life at a big club like Liverpool and you have to deal with it"

Karius went on to discuss the scrutiny that comes with keeping goal for a club the size of Liverpool, where any perceived mistake will be analysed in great detail.

“I think we’ve been a bit unlucky at times. Often you don’t have much to do,” he added

“Then if you don’t do something 100 per cent right it weighs a lot heavier than for other goalies at smaller clubs who have several more saves to make in a game. That’s life at a big club like Liverpool and you have to deal with it.

“I just want to present myself well and then I’ll have the chance to play at this club for the next season as well.

“That’s the challenge facing me personally. I also want to help this team achieve as much as we can.

“As well as the top four, we still have the Champions League. We want to go forward in that and why not win it? There are lots of big aims for the rest of the season.”

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About the author
Joshua Kerr
Third-year Sports Journalism student at Staffordshire University, contributing to Vavel UK since April 2017.