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Neville Southall believes Simon Mignolet will never be good enough to play for Liverpool FC – and has bemoaned the dearth of quality goalkeepers in the Premier League.

Mignolet has received growing criticism for his performances between the sticks as the Reds have struggled to keep clean sheets during an underwhelming start to the season.

Goodison legend Southall admits he was surprised when Brendan Rodgers splashed out £9million to sign the Belgium international from Sunderland last summer.

And he has warned the Reds are unlikely to win much silverware with Mignolet in goal.

“All I can say about Simon Mignolet is he’s definitely in my Top 20 of Premier League goalkeepers,” said Southall.

“And trust me, he doesn’t feature very high on it.

“He’s only 26, but from what I’ve seen, he’s just never going to be a Liverpool standard goalie. If you plan on winning leagues and trophies, you need a keeper who’ll pull games out of the fire for you.

“I don’t see that in him. I don’t recall too many games when you go ‘flipping heck – if it wasn’t for him that would have been four or five nil’.

“On the contrary, in the big games away to City and Chelsea last season, he let a couple in that he should have kept out.

“He doesn’t have the consistency you need from a top class goalie and without wanting to sound disrespectful, he’ll get away with a lot more at Sunderland than he will at Liverpool.”

Southall – winner of two league titles, two FA Cups and a European Cup Winners’ Cup during 17 years playing at the top level with the Blues – regards Mignolet as not a patch on many of his predecessors.

And he has pointed to a lack of bravery and communication from the Belgian.

“When they first bought him, I was surprised,” he added.

“When you think of the great Liverpool goalkeepers Tommy Lawrence, Ray Clemence, Bruce Grobbelaar, Pepe Reina– he never struck me as a player capable of hitting those standards.

“His shot-stopping his good, his distribution is decent, but he ain’t the best on crosses, his decision-making is poor and he’s not the bravest. He can’t cope physically.

“Skrtel and Lovren have come in for stick, but the lack of understanding they have with the keeper hasn’t helped. You just don’t get the feeling of confidence coming from him.”

Mignolet isn’t the only shot-stopper to come under fire from Southall, who regards Tottenham Hotspur’s Hugo Lloris as the only current world class goalkeeper in English football.

“Our expectations of goalkeepers have dropped so much,” he said. “The standard of goalkeeping is poor, particularly in the Premier League.

“Hugo Lloris is world class, but after that, I’m not convinced. David De Gea has come on a ton and could enter that world class bracket in time and Thibaut Courtois at Chelsea looks like the real deal, but being world class comes from concentration and long term consistency.

“That’s why I don’t have Joe Hart as one of the world’s best. He misses a fair few he should keep out.

“Tim Howard has been great for us (Everton). He gets a bit of stick for mistakes he makes, but his strength is his consistency.

“When I look around the Premier League, I don’t look at too many other keepers and think they’d be an improvement on Tim.”