Simon Mignolet: We've got to look forward and not for excuses
Liverpool are making no excuses for their form in 2017 so far, but must put all frustrations behind them and focus on Saturday’s Anfield encounter with Arsenal in order to deliver a response, according to Simon Mignolet.
The Reds’ 3-1 defeat at Leicester City on Monday evening means they’ve won just two of 12 fixtures in all competitions so far this calendar year.
Nevertheless, while acknowledging such a record is a source of huge disappointment, Mignolet insists no mitigation will be sought as the squad instead look firmly towards the visit of the Gunners and the opportunity to bounce back to winning ways.
The goalkeeper told Liverpoolfc.com: “There will be a few things we could say; we could say we had a few injuries, we've had a lot of games, Sadio went to the Africa Cup of Nations... but in the end that’d all be about excuses and we don’t want to look for them. It’s about looking forward.
“We know January wasn’t really the best of months, but we don’t want to look back – we have an opportunity again against Arsenal and that’s where we have to look forward to. We showed at the Emirates at the beginning of the season that we can get a result, play really good football and create chances against Arsenal. That’s what we have to look to do again. It’s the next game that counts and that’s why we’re looking forward.
“You can use [criticism] as some sort of energy to get yourselves back up again and push yourselves even further and harder, looking forward to the next opportunity. That’s what we have to do. It’s a new game [against Arsenal], a new 90 minutes to play and this weekend it’ll be the only thing that matters.”
LFCTV GO: Mignolet stars in episode 30 of #LFCWORLD
Heading into the weekend, Liverpool currently sit in fifth position in the Premier League table, a point behind Arsenal who have a game in hand.
Nevertheless, with 12 games still to play, Mignolet feels the objective of securing a top-four finish is still achievable.
“Twelve games is a lot of games and a lot of points to gain or lose,” he said. “Let’s try and win every game – that’s of course what the objective should be.
“In the Premier League, every game is tough either at home or away. But we, as this club, should try to get the maximum amount of points out of these games.”
Episode 30 of #LFCWORLD is now available above on LFCTV GO and will also be shown on Thursday evening on LFCTV at 8.30pm. Click here for details on how to sign up for either service.