You'll have plenty to celebrate when you subscribe to the Liverpool FC newsletter Sign me up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

BRENDAN Rodgers praised Mamadou Sakho’s mental toughness as the French defender helped Liverpool record their third successive clean sheet in the league.

Sakho was a star turn in the 2-0 victory over West Ham and returning hero Daniel Sturridge was quick to name the 24-year-old as his Man of the Match.

Only Chelsea and Southampton (9) have now recorded more league clean sheets than Liverpool (8) this season and Sakho has been one of the keys to the success of the new 3-4-2-1 formation which has taken the Reds to within four points of the top four.

If Sturridge’s return after five months promises much, it should not be forgotten that Sakho missed almost three months of the season, in a mostly forgettable period for the Reds.

After appearing in the League Cup tie with Middlesbrough on September 23, he was dropped by Rodgers from the squad to face Everton in the derby.

His well-publicised walk-out and later injury problems meant he did not appear in a Liverpool starting 11 again until the home league draw with Arsenal on December 21.

He has been ever-present since then, a run of six wins, four draws and just the one defeat, that extra time League Cup heartbreaker to Chelsea.

Click here to read Neil Jones' analysis of Mamadou Sakho's performance v West Ham.

Rodgers said his record showed he did not write players off and did not take any suggested fall-outs personally.

“It’s never a personal thing. You have to be honest with players and sometimes the modern player cannot deal with that but I think your behaviour and your actions will allow players to see that what you are doing is for the benefit of the team,” he said.

“This is how we play, this is how we work and if you can’t work this way, if you can’t be competitive or function then you won’t play.

“But I won’t disregard them. I think I’ve shown that millions of times. I’m a developer and I want players to be the very best that they can be whether they’re 16 or whether they’re 32 or 33 and if they follow the philosophy and the methodology of how we work then they’ll improve.

“In terms of Sakho, maybe he was frustrated with himself at times but he’s got a really strong mentality and that’s what you need, a team that’s hard to beat with mental toughness and he’s a tough boy.”

The Ulsterman feels his team is returning to the aggressive, pressing style which so characterised their performances last season and has noticed a “change in mentality.”

He said: “We know that we need to be aggressive and strong and the players are working very hard at that. We’re also working hard at reintroducing the principles of our defending, that pressing in particular because that maybe left our game for our period.

“We’re very compact as a team and you also saw that aggression in terms of how we go and hunt the ball and then we know we have the ability to play well and score goals.”

While the three man defence of Sakho, Can and Skrtel has been impressive, so too has been the form of restored goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, who has shown a much greater desire to come off his line and deal with crossed balls which caused Liverpool so much trouble in early season.

Rodgers said of the Belgian: “You’ve got to give Simon a huge amount of credit. He took time out of the team to analyse his game and realised he had to be better and now you’re seeing a different player.

“He was brilliant with his hands and dealt with every cross that came into the box.”

Whether that will be enough to stop Rodgers entering the marketplace for a new goalkeeper remains in doubt however, with back up Brad Jones out of contract this summer.

“That’s one where we’re just looking for the best possible players that we can, whether it’s positions one, two or three,” he said, although reiterated that Liverpool were unlikely to do any business before the close of the transfer window on Monday night.

WATCH: ECHO sports editor John Thompson on "immense" Mamadou Sakho