Liverpool keeper understands fans’ frustration

Adam Bogdan admits Liverpool’s players understand the fans’ frustration and accepts the clash with Aston Villa is “massive”. 

Bogdan was one of few Reds to impress on Wednesday night as League Two side Carlisle took Brendan Rodgers’ side to penalties in their Capital One Cup clash. The debutant goalkeeper saved three spot-kicks to ensure the hosts scraped into the fourth round, where they’ll face Bournemouth.

Liverpool’s performance failed to relieve the pressure on Rodgers, who appears to have lost the backing of many supporters after a poor start to the season, which has seen them fail to win any of their last four Premier League matches.

The club were forced to deny reports on Wednesday morning that Carlo Ancelotti had been approached about the possibility of taking over from Rodgers, and while the Northern Irishman keeps his job for now, fans remain restless ahead of Saturday’s trip to Villa Park.

Bogdan admits he and his team-mates are aware of the fans’ frustrations.

He said: “I tried to think of my performance and the things I needed to do to make the saves.

“Of course, you’re not deaf or blind, you see and hear things, but you can only afford to concentrate on your own job.

“It’s frustrating when you have so many chances and don’t score but I think the fans could see that we kept trying.

“It was frustrating for me watching their keeper making all the saves.

“We tried to get the job done before the shoot-out. We threw everything at them, we had 50 shots but they defended fantastically in the game.

“I understand the frustration. We want to win and we’re trying everything possible to win and to win in style.

“We all know the Villa game is massive. The final touch is missing for us at the moment but it will come. I really hope it comes on Saturday.”

Bogdan will return to the bench at Villa Park but the former Bolton goalkeeper insists he will continue to push Simon Mignolet for the No.1 spot.

“I hardly touched the ball for 120 minutes but it turned out to be a great night for me on my debut,” he said.

“The only shot I had to save was their goal as we controlled the whole game.

“There is a lot more to goalkeeping than saving penalties but I’ll keep working hard and if I get another chance then I’ll try to take it.

“This is a fantastic club and a fantastic environment to work in. I’m training with great players and I’m going home with a smile on my face every day.

“It didn’t want to go in (at the end). It was one of those nights but our team spirit was really strong and we managed to go through to the next round.

“Afterwards the manager shook my hand and congratulated me, but he didn’t say anything special. We will go through the game on Thursday or Friday and analyse it.

“He doesn’t speak too much after a game, he does it the day after.”