Jurgen Klopp has launched a scathing attack on Gary Neville for his criticism of Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius.

Neville, the former Manchester United defender, recently criticised Karius after his woeful performance in Liverpool's 4-3 defeat at Bournemouth, stating that the summer signing from Mainz was "miles away".

Karius hit back in response and said in an interview published at the weekend that: "He [Neville] was a manager for a short bit and now he is back to being an expert again."

Although the German came under more scrutiny after his error led to Dimitri Payet scoring a free-kick in the 2-2 draw with West Ham on Sunday, Klopp insisted on Monday that he was not interested in getting into a debate about his goalkeeper.

Speaking ahead of Liverpool’s trip to Middlesbrough on Wednesday, the manager said: “My job is to protect the players as much as we can, but I can’t do that when they’re on the pitch.

“I’m not surprised about it. In my first press conference I spoke about English media, and the pundits, the former players, forgot completely how it felt when they get criticised.

“Especially the Neville brothers, the one who was a manager, he should know. He showed he struggled with a job to judge players - why do we let them talk about players on television?

“He’s not interested in helping a Liverpool player.

“I don’t listen to them. Carra doesn’t speak too much about United players, and the Neville brothers don’t care much about Liverpool.