“We have to keep the pressure on,” Caoimhin Kelleher insists ahead of Southampton v Liverpool.

“We must keep our foot firmly on the pedal,” Caoimhin Kelleher warns ahead of Southampton v Liverpool.

“We must keep pushing,” Caoimhin Kelleher emphasized as Liverpool prepares to face Southampton on Sunday, marking the resumption of their Premier League campaign.

The Reds head to St Mary’s as league leaders for the 2pm GMT kick-off, while newly promoted Southampton finds themselves at the bottom of the table after 11 games.

Ahead of the match, Kelleher, who will continue in goal with Alisson Becker sidelined, spoke about Liverpool’s anticipation of a challenging encounter on the south coast, despite the significant 24-point gap between the two sides in the standings.

“The manager mentioned that again this week,” he told Liverpoolfc.com. “As players, we know they’re a strong team. They’ve just been a bit unlucky with their results.

“They play an exciting style of football, are very comfortable on the ball, and create plenty of chances. We’re expecting a tough challenge. I don’t think we’re paying too much attention to their league position.”

Kelleher added: “We, as players, and the staff too, aren’t naive. We know how good they are and the quality they have. Sometimes, the results don’t reflect the talent within the team.

“You have to take every team in this league seriously, or you risk not getting the right results. We’re preparing for this match just like we would for Man City, Chelsea, or Arsenal. We’ll approach it the same way and give it everything we’ve got.”

The No. 62 is celebrating his 26th birthday today, having progressed from the club’s Academy to the senior squad since joining as a teenager.

Reflecting on how quickly his career at Liverpool has flown by, he said: “Absolutely, it’s gone by in the blink of an eye. Since I joined, time has really flown. It’s been an amazing journey, and it’s nice to celebrate another milestone here.

“It was a challenge for me. I was young, just like the rest of the lads in the Academy, hoping and dreaming of making it to the first team and playing a few games. I’m really happy with how things have gone so far, and I hope it continues to go well.”

On whether he gets the chance to reflect on his career achievements, he said: “I don’t get too much time, especially with all the games, but there are moments when you step back and think about how far you’ve come and how much you’ve accomplished to reach this point. That said, the most important thing is to focus on what’s ahead and continue to do well. But sometimes, it is nice to take a little time to appreciate how far you’ve come.”

On whether a change of scenery with international football can be a positive, he said: “I love going away with my country and spending time with the lads. Many of them I’ve known since our underage teams, so I’m really close to them, and we all get on really well. Playing for my country has always been a huge honor for me. It’s nice to get away, and sometimes a change of scenery for a week or so is refreshing. But it’s also great to come back here and get straight back into it with the lads.”

On meeting a familiar face in Adam Lallana this weekend, he said: “Adam was always great with us. I was a bit younger when he was here, but he was always really kind and willing to give his time to the younger players, which was nice. He was also very vocal in the changing room, which helped a lot. A lot of the lads are very fond of him, so it’ll be nice to see him again.”

On the ‘hunger’ in the current squad this season compared to the team that won the Premier League in 2019-20, he said: “There’s definitely a big hunger in us to win more trophies and compete at the highest level. A lot of the players from that squad have moved on, so not many of us have tasted Premier League or Champions League success. There’s a lot of hunger in this new squad to achieve those things. We know we have the quality, but we need to go out and prove it. There’s definitely a lot of hunger throughout the whole squad.”

On how the squad will approach the busy upcoming period and growing expectations, he said: “After this last international break, it’s going to be intense with us playing pretty much every three days. We’re not going to take anything for granted. I know the outside world might be talking about how far ahead we are in the league, but we don’t focus on that. We know we can’t take our foot off the gas for even a second, because we’ll get punished. Our focus is on Southampton first and then aiming to get some wins.”