Dejan Lovren has admitted that he was "fuming" with manager Jurgen Klopp after being replaced during the first half of Liverpool's meeting with Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the season.
The Croatia international lasted just half an hour of the Reds' 4-1 defeat at Wembley Stadium in October before being taken off, having been given a tough time of things by Tottenham's attacking players.
Lovren has been a near regular for Liverpool since then, however, helping his side to maintain their push for a top-four finish and success in the Champions League.
Speaking to The Times, the centre-back hit back at his critics by insisting that the criticism aimed his way has been unfair.
"When [Klopp] took me out at Spurs, I was fuming. But after, when we spoke, it took a couple of days then he invited me into his room," he said. "I wanted answers but he said positive things. He said: 'If you just think about yourself like I think about you, you will be one of the best players in the world.' You know maybe, it's sometimes just... just my self-confidence disappears in some moments.
"And he believes in me, you know? And I believe in him. Sometimes, I'm a person who thinks, 'Ah, I'm really good.' But other times I think, 'Ah, I did that. I'm not good enough.' He says always be level, but it's difficult. You have sometimes self-confidence, sometimes not; sometimes good moods, sometimes not.
"Everyone makes mistakes, but I play one bad game in 18 and everyone says, 'Look, look, look.' Why? I don't deserve that. People don't see me in the 'small' games. They see 5-0 against Porto but nobody sees my part. It's a challenge. A personality challenge. After a mistake, are you ready to move on? I did it straightaway after Spurs when I was in that record of 18 games unbeaten.
"Big players don't need six or seven games; big players in the next game prove you wrong. But some people don't care about that Dejan. They're just searching for the next mistake."
Lovren has been used 31 times in all competitions by Klopp this term, most recently coming on for the final 20 minutes of Saturday's 2-1 win at Crystal Palace.
Daniel Lewis
