Caoimhin Kelleher was on the receiving end of a famous Jurgen Klopp bear hug after keeping a clean sheet in Liverpools 1-0 win over Ajax.
The Reds academy goalkeeper was preferred to Adrian to deputise for the injured Alisson, who is sidelined with a minor hamstring injury.
Klopp was thrilled with Kelleher’s display
Klopp gave Kelleher one of his famous bear hugs
And Kelleher justified Klopps decision by denying Noussair Mazraoui before pulling off a point-blank save from a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar header late on.
His saves and Curtis Jones second-half goal saw Liverpool progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League and Klopp ran straight to the 22-year-old at full-time.
The Liverpool boss has hugged several of his players at the end of matches over the years – and Kelleher was the latest one to be embraced by the German.
He had only made four cup appearances for the Reds, before making his Champions League bow.
Cork-born Kelleher insisted Liverpools youngsters are ready to improve the team.
He told BT Sport: I work every day in training to make sure when it comes to a game Im ready and prepared. Thankfully I was able to make a few good saves.
“Thats what we [youngsters] are there for me. Were not here just to take part, we want to push every day and play as many games as we can.
You can see that were actually making a difference and improving the team as well.