Resilience is key to Walsall goalkeeper Liam Roberts’ progress

Walsall goalkeeper Liam Roberts believes being 'mentally tough' will stand him in good stead as a brushes off both criticism and praise to focus on the task in hand.

The 25-year-old was having a solid campaign in the Saddlers net this season, until it was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Roberts has made several impressive saves, including a last minute stop in the 2-1 victory away at Salford in January, but his season has also seen the occasional slip-up and the shot stopper insists that he can't dwell on the good or bad times if he wants to improve.

"In the game, no matter what happens, you have to forget it," Roberts said.

"Even if you make an unbelievable save or you make a mistake, you have to completely forget about it and continue on.

"After the game if it doesn't affect you, you can look back on that individual mistake and work on it that way.

"You can look back and think about how to get better.

"If you dwell on it, I guarantee you will make more mistakes in the game and question everything.

"It's just about never being too high or too low, just staying consistent is the key.

"I believe in that and you have to be mentally tough. At the end of the day you are going to come under criticism no matter what you do, so you have to be resilient.

"Make sure that you're full of confidence when you go into the game and then look back at games, no matter what happened, and grow from it and maintain that consistency."

Last month, former Walsall goalkeeper Neil Etheridge spoke to the Express & Star about the potential he saw in Roberts from a young age.

When asked about the Cardiff goalkeeper's comments, Roberts was lost for words.

"I'm a little bit speechless to be honest," Roberts added.

"I am full of congratulations for Neil with his career, one thing I learnt from him was his hard work.

"Every single day he was doing the right things, he was a great character to have around the changing room.

He was one person I don't think I've ever seen unhappy, like any pro he was very consistent with his mood and his work ethic, he's a top guy even away from football.

"We still speak regularly now, he's a really good guy.

"It's a massive compliment coming from him, as he's played in the Premier League.

"I don't have a bad word to say about him, he's a great guy and a great character."