POPE’S GLOVELY DAY WITH JAY

NICK POPE admitted to a cheeky hug for Burnley goal hero Jay Rodriguez as the keeper kept his hopes of the Golden Glove alive.

Rodriguez produced a fine strike to deny Liverpool keeper Alisson a clean sheet, and that keeps Pope level in the race with Manchester City’s Ederson to record the most shut-outs on 14.

And England hopeful Pope says that if he does win the award, he’ll put it where everyone can see it. “It would be a great achievement,” said Pope. “I would put next to my front door so I could tell everyone about it.

“I gave Jay a hug after. It was a great finish from another chance we created. It shows it really is a team effort, although the clean sheet gets stuck next to my name a little bit.

“It is something the boys have really really helped me in which full-back Robertson opened the scoring with a header.

But with striker Mo Salah having one of those days when he was never going to score, missing a golden chance in the dying seconds to win the game, Burnley dug in.

And the Clarets, for whom keeper Nick Pope (below, left) excelled, then exploited a weakness in Liverpool’s setpiece defending to level through a fine Jay Rodriguez finish.

The key for the Kop youngsters, says Klopp, is dealing with the intensity of Premier League warfare.

“It is not about making incredible steps,” the German said. “It is to gain stability, to be always there when you have to. To have intensity.” out with throughout the whole season and that is where we have built our character and attitude.

“We are a group that sticks together and wants to fight for each other and clean sheets are very much a big part of that.

“We get behind the ball and put bodies on the line to keep the ball out of the net.

“Liverpool are an incredible team, but we weren’t scared of them.”