'No doubt' - Liverpool loanee still has full backing after debut howler

Liverpool loanee Marcelo Pitaluga has the full support of his manager after enduring a difficult start to life at League of Ireland outfit St Patrick's Athletic.

The highly-rated Brazilian shot-stopper made his debut for St Pat's on Friday evening but it didn't go exactly to plan - his side lost 3-1, with the third goal, a tame deflected effort from Trevor Clarke, easily slipping through his hands.

Saints manager Jon Daly has warned fans not to make snap judgements about the 21-year-old, citing their recent loan acquisitions from the UK market as a reason to keep faith.

Pitagula is the second player to join St Patrick's from Liverpool, with Czech keeper Vitezslav Jaros being a big hit in Dublin back in 2021.

However, Daly chose to point to West Ham's Joseph Anang, who temporarily joined in 2022 and similarly suffered a nervy start, before going on to be a success for the club.

“Joseph Anang threw one in here when we played them and he went on to do good things for us,” said Daly.

“He [Pitaluga] will probably look back at it and think he should have done better but we are very happy with the goalkeeping department.

"I have no doubt from what I’ve seen in Marcelo in training and when we’ve been over to watch him in Liverpool a couple of times that he’s a very good goalkeeper.

"Yes, he’ll be disappointed with conceding that one, but I don’t think he could have done anything else with the other two goals.”

This is Pitagula's second stint away from Merseyside since his arrival from Fluminense in 2020, having enjoyed a fruitful spell at Macclesfield last season.

He will look to redeem his poor debut performance in St Patrick's next game, making the trip to Galway United next Friday.