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Simon Mignolet hailed the brilliance of Liverpool match-winner Philippe Coutinho after his stunning late strike against Stoke City.

The Brazil international helped the Reds get their Premier League campaign off to a flying start with a dipping 25-yarder four minutes from time.

Mignolet says it was a foregone conclusion that Coutinho would find the net when he steadied himself to let fly at the Britannia Stadium.

“I knew what was going to happen,” Mignolet told the ECHO.

“The moment Philippe got the ball out of his feet and cut inside I was shouting ‘shoot!’

“He did the same at Bolton and Blackburn last season. We all knew what was going to happen.

GALLERY: More than 70 great pictures from Liverpool's win at Stoke

“I see that quality from him every day in training. That great talent is something he was born with. He also works his socks off for the team.

“Hopefully we’ll see a lot more of that from him this season.”

Coutinho settled a largely drab contest at the Britannia Stadium as the Reds avenged their 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Stoke back in May.

We know we have the attacking quality to score goals

Mignolet believes Liverpool’s show of character demonstrated they are now a very different proposition under Brendan Rodgers.

“We had to dig deep,” he said.

“Everyone worked hard and we know that in tight games we have players who can make the difference.

“You know that whenever you go away in the Premier League, it’s going to be tough, especially at Stoke.

“The clean sheet was very satisfying. If we can defend well then we know we have the attacking quality going forward to score goals.

“We didn’t give much away and defended really well. Unlike the game here three months ago, we restricted them to very few chances and coped well with the pressure.

“We knew before the game what we would be facing. You have to be ready for that physical challenge and we showed we could handle it.

“Everyone made a contribution starting with Christian Benteke, who was up front winning the second balls and battling to the very end.

“It was a very different dressing room afterwards compared to our last visit here. Nobody wanted to go back to that day. Everyone is very pleased this time.

“But it’s only the first game of the season and now we need to make sure we build on that.”