GOALKEEPER Alex McCarthy has challenged his Saints teammates to replicate their first-half performance against Brighton for 90 minutes.

Saints could not have a tougher task ahead of them as they try to bounce back from

Monday’s second-half implosion at home to the Seagulls.

Liverpool maintained their perfect start to the season by winning their opening Champions League match, 3-2 against Paris Saint-Germain, at Anfield on Tuesday night.

Now it is Saints’ turn to try and keep quiet the likes of Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane as Liverpool go in search of a sixth win in as many Premier League games.

“Obviously it’s going to be a tough game with the start they’ve had but we’re looking to put things right after Monday and are looking forward to it,” said McCarthy.

The former Arsenal goalkeeper has played at Liverpool once before, a 1-0 defeat with Reading in October 2012, when Raheem Sterling scored the only goal. “There’s always a great atmosphere there, it’s one of the best places to play,” he continued.

“Everyone knows how good their front three are but we’ve done our work this week. I’ve worked hard with Dave [Watson], our goalkeeping coach, so we know what to expect.

“Hopefully we won’t get caught out and can keep them quiet for most of the game.”

The failure to keep Brighton quiet in the second half at St Mary’s on Monday, when Saints drew 2-2 after leading 2-0, has focused minds ahead of Anfield.

“If we play the way we did in the first half over 90 minutes for the rest of the season we’ll finish midway upwards,” said McCarthy.

“Obviously the result was frustrating but we’ll learn from that.”

McCarthy rates Saints’ first-half performance, which saw them lead 1-0 through Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg’s 35-yard wonder goal, is as good as any in his time at the club.

“The first 45 would definitely would be up there, I only touched the ball four or five times so it was nice to watch,” he continued. “Pierre’s goal was obviously an unbelievable strike, we just need to replicate that for 90 minutes.

“When you’re 2-0 up you need to be able to manage the game and shut the game off. We knew they were going to come out the traps fast but we didn’t win enough second balls or do the things you need to do to win the game. As much as it’s frustrating we need to learn from that as quickly as possible.”