Press conference'Joe Gomez is an incredibly important player for us'

The No.2 has started the Reds' last three fixtures, deputising at right-back during Trent Alexander-Arnold's absence, before returning to the heart of the backline for the victories over Manchester City and West Ham United.

His displays in those matches came as no surprise to his manager, who feels Gomez is now benefiting from a consistent run of game time.

"Joe, for us, is an incredibly important player – I don't think we ever said anything different about that," Klopp told reporters on Friday.

"He's here longer than I am here and still a young man – that just shows how long his Liverpool spell is. It's definitely his club, he loves it, he committed to it with another long-term contract.

"Really a top-class player. How we look for all of them, the boys have to stay injury-free and then they can fulfil their full potential. If not, then you always start new again and that's obviously not helpful.

"He had a few too many in his career now but maybe that's it and from here he can go forever and will never be on the bed again, so that would be absolutely perfect but we don't know.

"But in the moment, yes, it's perfect for him because he can show – in two different positions in which he can play both on an exceptional level – that he's an extremely good player."

Gomez and the rest of his teammates have now kept back-to-back clean sheets for the first time this season.

Klopp believes that should give the entire defensive unit a welcome boost as they look to register their third in a row when they travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday lunchtime.

He said: "That should be the case. I'm not sure, since the season started we had here the conversation that, 'You always concede the first goal.'

"I couldn't wait for the day when you don't ask the question. Now you don't ask the questions, it's good – hopefully we will never have to talk about it anymore. But yeah, it should [help].

"But we all know clean sheets, there are different kinds of clean sheets – clean sheets with no shots on target from the opponent or clean sheets with outstanding goalkeeper saves. I think we needed Ali a couple of times or Millie in one moment, so that's clear.

"But that's the nature of clean sheets, there are not a lot with no shots on target. But we know we have to work really, really hard to make sure that we can get more stability and can build on that in a game.

"So if each chance of the opponent is a massive threat or nearly a goal or a goal, then you just cannot play freely offensively, that you say, 'OK, come on, pass here, pass there' – what we have to do as well.

"We will face, I'm pretty sure, a deep-defending side at Nottingham Forest with incredible speed up front. There will be counter-attacks, there will be everything involved – hard challenges, all these kind of things – so we have to be ready for that. That's my concern – not so much the clean sheets we had.

"If we talk about a clean sheet after the next game, I would be delighted and then we have a good chance to win the game. If not, it will be more difficult, much more difficult."