Fresh from helping Liverpool claim a statement win over Real Madrid, Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher insists that his side have no time to rest on their laurels as they prepare to face Manchester City this weekend - a game he might not feature in.
Kelleher turned in another star performance for the Reds as he saved a penalty from Kylian Mbappé in his side's 2-0 victory over Madrid, but despite that, he may return to the bench for the visit of City on Sunday afternoon.
With Arne Slot's first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker nearing a return to fitness, Kelleher knows his time in the Liverpool first team is drawing to a close.
Whether Slot is willing to throw Alisson back into the fray in such a big game remains to be seen, so Kelleher is ready to face the champions if called upon.
Speaking after his side's statement win over Real Madrid, he said: "I think confidence is high within the whole squad but we know Man City, they have not been on the best run at the moment, but what a team...
"So we're going to expect a really tough test again and it's important that we keep winning in the league as well to keep that gap.
"So, we’ll build on this, it’s good confidence for the team and we’ll try to go again."
We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Despite Kelleher's performances in recent times, Slot has always been clear that he is second in line to Alisson, who watched from the bench last night.
"I've always been quite clear and that's always been the position of Alisson that he is, and will be, our first goalkeeper if he is fit," the Liverpool boss said earlier this month.
"But therefore he first needs to be fit. Caoimhín has done outstanding last season and this season again as well. But the moment Alisson will be fit he will be our first goalkeeper."
Kelleher's most telling contribution against Madrid came just after the hour mark. Andy Robinson was penalised for a trip on Lucas Vázquez and with Liverpool leading 1-0, Mbappe faced Kelleher from the penalty spot.
MISSED PENALTY REAL MADRID
61mins: LIV 1-0 RMA
Caoimhin Kelleher the hero as he saves Kylian Mbappe's penalty.
Watch https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7…
Updates https://t.co/8l9orePlPm pic.twitter.com/K8VKAatAdu
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 27, 2024
"For me, I don't really look at the player too much," the Irish international said afterwards.
"Obviously, I felt confident, I’ve saved two in the last week or so, and thankfully I went the right way again.
"It's a big result. It was a massive game for us, obviously they got the better of us the last few times in the Champions League so we wanted to come out here tonight and put on a performance and I thought the lads did really well."