It’s been years since Liverpool have had a reliable presence between the sticks. Not since the days of Pepe Reina have Liverpool had someone to depend on in goal. His replacement four years ago, Simon Mignolet, has had an up and down Liverpool career thus far.

Putting in some fantastic performances last season to help Liverpool finish in the top four for the first time in three years, Mignolet is clearly a decent keeper and is definitely better than most give him credit for. But having said that he still has his glaring weaknesses that will never make him good enough for a team with the ambitions Liverpool have.

Many fans have wanted Liverpool to dip their hand into the transfer market for a new goalkeeper for some time now, but before they do so I believe Liverpool should give Loris Karius the chance to prove himself.

Karius was excellent against West Brom, putting in the kind of performance that fans expected to see on a normal basis when he signed from Mainz last year.

With only a handful of appearances so far the German has had little chance to show his worth, but against West Brom, all the signs were there.

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He made two great saves, gathered ever cross convincingly and distributed the ball quickly and accurately. Some fans in the ground were on his back for not getting rid of the ball fast enough at times but that was very unfair on the keeper as when he had the chance he did start attacks and moved the ball well.

It’s clear to everyone Mignolet isn’t good enough so what’s the point in continuing to play him? Give Karius a chance for the rest of the season and if he fails then it’s time to buy a new keeper.

That should be enough time for Jürgen Klopp to determine whether he is good enough. It’s time for Karius to show us the performances that made him one of the best goalkeepers in the Bundesliga and that will not happen with the odd appearance in the Champions League or league games here and there.

Karius needs a consistent run of games. A great keeper is in there and he isn’t going to come out by sitting on the bench every week.

This is a vital time in Liverpool’s progression to becoming a top team again and no time can be wasted by standing by subpar keepers.

David De Gea is the percent example of what a goalkeeper can do for a side as he has single-handedly kept Manchester United in games for years.

It’s time for Liverpool to move towards that and the first step in doing so is finding out whether the current keepers at the club are capable of performing at the very top. Mignolet has proven he can’t, so now it’s Karius’ turn.