Former Liverpool goalkeeper David James has hailed Simon Mignolet for the Belgian's improvement in form this year.

Mignolet struggled in the first few months of the campaign and was dropped in favour of Brad Jones, before the Australian was withdrawn for his teammate in the 1-0 win over Burnley on Boxing Day after picking up an injury.

Reds keeper Mignolet has markedly improved his performances since the turn of the year to help Brendan Rodgers's men to within four points of the top four in the Premier League.

James told the Liverpool Echo: "I've got a lot of respect for Simon, and I think he's got a great future. He will become a better goalkeeper for his experiences, I think.

"Simon has come in and had a full season straight away. And apart from the final couple of weeks, he's had a really good season, nearly winning the league. He was under enormous pressure, and he wasn't awash with clean sheets, because the team was more about attacking and less about defending.

"Suddenly, the fact that Liverpool were conceding goals was a problem, because they weren't scoring so many at the other end. There was always going to be more pressure on the backline and the goalkeeper."

Mignolet became the most expensive goalkeeper in Liverpool's history when he signed from Sunderland for around £9m in the summer of 2013.