MISSES TO KISSES

Hat-trick hero Mane: It was tough going through my goal drought but I never ever lost faith in my ability

SADIO MANE says he never doubted his talent even when going through one of the toughest spells of his career.

The Liverpool star was given a hug by manager Jurgen Klopp after a magnificent hat-trick in Porto drew a line under one of the most difficult times he’s experienced in football.

Yet the Senegal star said he knew he would get back to his dynamic best even as doubters on the Kop questioned his worth amid a startling loss of form. “It was a difficult time for me but I never doubted myself and I tried to give my best even when it wasn’t going so well,” Mane said after his Champions League masterclass.

“It was tough but that’s part of football. I never doubted that I could help the team and I never stopped working hard every day in training.

“I don’t know how to describe it but it can happen to every single player. In my mind, though, I knew things would change.”

It has taken Mane (below, completing his hat-trick against Porto) time to rediscover the confidence that made him arguably Liverpool’s best player in the first part of the campaign, even ahead of Mo Salah.

Klopp, who whispered to Mane “finally, you’re back” after the Porto treble, believes his quicksilver star (right) was badly affected by a miss in the Merseyside derby way back at the start of December.

Yet the player himself hinted it was an unfortunate dismissal at Manchester City, when he was red-

carded for a high boot, which stalled his season.

Wednesday’s hat-trick in Portugal took his tally for the season to 12, just one short of his total for the whole of the last campaign, and he has also already provided more assists that last term.

Yet if Liverpool’s front three are the crowning jewels, then veteran midfielder James Milner still believes that it is the defence that will decide their trophy fate.

Former England regular Milner played in the Manchester City team which scored more than 100 goals in a single campaign and will repeat that feat with the Reds, who stand at an incredible 99 already.

Yet he believes that it is defence which ultimately puts trophies in the cabinet, not goals.

“The hardest thing in football is putting the ball in the back of the net and we have got players who can do that,” he said. “The other side we have got to work on is clean sheets. We have got to manage games better. That, ultimately, is what wins you titles. You can be brilliant going forward but everyone remembers the great Newcastle team who were brilliant going forward but they never won anything. They say defences win you championships so if we can be more solid...

“We have kept a few clean sheets recently and our game-management has been good – I’m thinking of away at Huddersfield.”

Indeed Liverpool have kept clean sheets in three of their last four matches, only Spurs scoring against them in that spell

“We can still attack, attack, attack but we can now put men behind the ball and take the sting out of games,” said Milner.