Kolo Toure insists Simon Mignolet has the mental toughness to bounce back from seeing Liverpool concede five goals in two matches.

Despite picking up four points from fixtures which yielded two losses last season, the team were unable to keep clean sheets against Stoke City and Aston Villa.

The costliest of those strikes came in quick succession before a stunned Anfield crowd as Andreas Weimann and Christian Benteke handed Villa a 2-0 lead within 35 minutes of Saturday's encounter.



Toure insists the whole team must accept responsibility for any shortcomings defensively, and he believes Mignolet will prove to be an influential figure for the Reds between now and May.



"Simon will get through it as he is really strong mentally," Toure told the Liverpool Echo. "I told him that the life of defenders and goalkeepers is like this.

"You can play 120 games without making a mistake and then make two in two games and it's like you have to start all over again.

"All 'keepers have sticky patches but he is a strong guy and he knows he has a big part to play in the season.



"It's not only Simon, everyone needs to react. The back four could have done better with everything. We know we have a strong defence as before we were keeping clean sheets. We will work on that in training and make sure we are better in the future."



A long journey to the Goldsands Stadium for an FA Cup fourth-round tie against Bournemouth will provide Liverpool with an opportunity to return to winning ways on Saturday.



The Cherries, who currently sit 16th in the Championship table, stand between Brendan Rodgers' side and a place in the last 16 of the tournament



Toure insists any mistakes from Saturday's draw will be analysed in detail at Melwood, where the Reds have a full week to prepare for their trip south.



"We just need to think about the next game and be positive," he said. "We need to take on board where we can improve and keep going.



"We have a few days to recover and then we will analyse everything. We just have to avoid making the same mistakes. When you have hard times you see a strong team and we are a strong team.

"The first half against a good Villa side was very hard. We didn't have a solution but the manager adjusted the team and then everything changed from there.

"We have the flexibility to do that and if one thing is not working we change. The reaction from the team after going 2-0 down was great. It showed the character of our team.

"We are a team who wants to play well and win every game, but that one point will help us definitely because the momentum of not losing is great."