‘He’s strong enough…’ – Liverpool ace backed to recover from horrific international moment | OneFootball

One Liverpool player endured a hugely frustrating night on the international scene on Sunday, having been culpable for the concession of a goal in his country’s defeat.

Caoimhin Kelleher was in the Republic of Ireland team which lost 2-0 away to Greece in the UEFA Nations League, and despite a largely superb performance for his side, he blotted his copybook in stoppage time when passing the ball straight to Petros Mantalos to round off the win for the hosts.

Parrott defends Kelleher

Speaking after the match, Kelleher’s Ireland teammate Troy Parrott gave his backing to the Liverpool goalkeeper to swiftly put that error behind him.

The AZ Alkmaar striker said (via The Mirror): “It’s frustrating for all of us, but there is nothing we can do. Everyone makes mistakes, Caoimh doesn’t make many. Everyone in the dressing room is behind him, but I don’t think he needs it because he’s strong enough mentally to deal with it.

“Obviously, it’s frustrating to give a good side like this chances, especially at that time in the game when we were coming back into it and creating good chances ourselves. It’s difficult, but we have to move on.”

(Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)

Tough on Kelleher, but Liverpool will be counting on him

It was cruel luck on Kelleher to have made such a horrific error for the second Greece goal last night, and he won’t need telling that it wasn’t his finest moment.

It mustn’t be forgotten how well he’d been playing before that gaffe, having been named Ireland’s Player of the Match by national broadcaster RTE and kept his team in the contest by making five saves, particularly when they were being dominated in the first half.

The 25-year-old won’t have long to dwell on it, though, as he faces into a crucial period for Liverpool, where he’ll be relied upon for at least the next seven games up until the November international break.

With Alisson Becker sidelined with injury until then, it’ll be Kelleher’s turn to step up and provide a solid last line of defence for the Reds, just as he did when our number 1 was ruled out for two months in the second half of last season.

Ireland’s October fixtures have now concluded, which leaves the Cork native almost a full week to get back to Merseyside and prepare for the Chelsea game next Sunday, when hopefully he’ll produce a performance as heroic as the one he gave against the Blues in the Carabao Cup final earlier this year.