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Amid a winter of discontent, it was arguably the nadir for Simon Mignolet.

But the Boxing Day battering at Burnley may ultimately prove the redemption of the goalkeeper’s Liverpool career.

Thrust back into the first-team fray after Brad Jones had hobbled off injured, it seemed little had changed when, within minutes, Mignolet was being greeted with howls of derision from the home crowd having seen a backpass charged down.

Even worse was to come in the second half when, in taking so long over clearing a backpass, the Belgian allowed the ball to cross the line and conceded a corner.

Later that evening, Mignolet joined his family for dinner. Then the penny dropped.

“It was Boxing Day, my family were over here, and my missus (fiancee Jasmien) and everyone were having dinner when she said ‘Simon are you sometimes overthinking stuff?’” recalls the Belgian.

“Those were her words. I didn’t really give a response at the time.

“Then the next day I went into training and again we analysed the game. We got to that moment and I got the same response from the coaching staff, who said 'what can we do to eradicate that kind of stuff?'

“That was the trigger in my mind that we had to say ‘look, we have to sort this out'.”

I'm not the sort of person to go out and buy a Ferrari

Mignolet adds: “My missus knows when to speak about football to me and when to leave me alone.

“She comes to every single game and follows it. We’ve been together since before I was a footballer and she knows me better than anyone, my character, that’s why she said it.

“She knows in my private life I am not the sort of person who will wake up and go and buy myself a Ferrari, which some people might do.”

That analytical mind, wary of impulsive actions, is what Mignolet believes has hampered his decision-making process between the sticks and resulted in him being dropped ahead of the December trip to Manchester United.

“I was always looking to find best possible solution for situations,” says the goalkeeper, who chose to hold court with the media to get his point across.

“What I then forget – and the corner I gave away (at Burnley) was the best example of that – was that because I was thinking ‘you could do this, you could do that,’ I was trying to find the right player to pass to, but forgot what was the worst solution – which was to give a corner away, which is quite funny when think about it.

“You don’t have that time and it’s probably to do with my character.

“So I tried to change and just make a decision rather than thinking too much, because then you are doubting what to do and you are losing time and don’t have that, especially in the Premier League.

“After that I made sure I acted and was more decisive and commanding and ever since that it has gone very well. I am very pleased with what we changed.”

Club psychiatrist helped but I never believed my Liverpool FC career was over

Dr Steve Peters, Liverpool’s sports psychiatrist, was inevitably part of the process.

“He came into the picture together with the head of performance and the goalie coach to speak about things,” says Mignolet.

“It has helped me especially on high balls coming into the box, on crosses, making a split decision coming out of the box, clearing balls, backpasses, there are some things that are going better than before.”

Nevertheless, the goalkeeper’s innate self-belief meant there was never any point he believed his Liverpool career was over.

“I will never do that because I know myself, you can do two things – let your head drop or go back in training and say this is the moment that I learn from, that I can come back strong, and this is actually something positive,” he says.

I'm playing better than I was before - but I have to keep proving myself

(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC)

“Looking back, being out gave me time to reflect. I actually feel now I am playing better than before I was out of the team.”

Of course, redemption is not instant and Mignolet still has some way to go before he can truly be confident he has salvaged his Liverpool career.

The same could be said of the Reds’ season, which enters another critical stage with Saturday night’s FA Cup fifth round tie at Crystal Palace followed by the resumption of the Europa League and a Premier League trip to high-flying Southampton next weekend.

“I have every game to prove myself,” says Mignolet. “That’s the same for every player. Every time you play for Liverpool Football Club you have to show you are worth the jersey.

“I remember playing in the second division in Belgium playing in front of 500 people, whereas maybe there’s not as much pressure as being at Anfield playing in the Champions League against Real Madrid.

“I prefer to play under that pressure in a game of that magnitude rather than play in the second division in Belgium, where it’s a lot more difficult to prepare yourself mentally before the game.”

Mignolet is done with looking back. He just wants to look forward. Without thinking about it too much.