MANAGER Ralph Hasenhuttl admitted he was not always a fan of having a cemented number one stopper and added: “We have two good goalkeepers that we can trust.”

The Saints boss last week hinted he was set to rotate senior keepers Alex McCarthy and Fraser Forster for the final five games of the campaign.

McCarthy featured in last Friday’s 1-1 draw at home to Leicester City, making some impressive saves as Hasenhuttl’s men battled with 10 men for 80 minutes, following Jannik Vestergaard’s sending off.

Forster has played 11 times in all competitions this season and kept a string of clean sheets to help Saints reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Asked whether he could reveal who would start in goal when Saints make the trip to face Liverpool in the top flight tomorrow (8.15pm), Hasenhuttl said: “No, I don’t want to!”

He added: “I need to have a good goalkeeper in the goal and whether it is number one or number one-b or however you call him, it's not interesting.

“He has to have a duel with another one, like any other player on the pitch.

“I'm not really a big fan of having a clear number one sometimes because it's always normal that goalkeepers have the good moments where they are good in form, where they save you the games, where they make big saves to keep you a clean sheet or to win you a game.

“There are some moments where they are struggling a bit and then maybe the other one is in better momentum and you can use him for this.

“The good thing is that we have two good goalkeepers that we can trust and this is something of an advantage, I think.”

Saints have conceded 59 times from 33 Premier League games this season, only relegated Sheffield United and struggling West Brom have shipped more goals.

Asked whether changing goalkeeper continuity could influence defenders, the manager replied: “No because they have played with both goalkeepers in a lot of games this season.

“They are not so much different in their way, in their behaviours. We have played with both keepers, good games with clean sheets.

“With both goalkeepers we have had games where we haven’t defended quite well, so it’s not about who is standing in the goal.”

McCarthy has been selected by Hasenhuttl for Saints’ past two league contests.

Speaking ahead of the journey to Merseyside, the former Reading and Crystal Palace stopper told the Daily Echo: “Obviously I was delighted to be back in the team and playing games but I take each game as it comes because I want to help the team as much as possible.

“We will go there (Anfield) with a game plan and try to execute it.

“We will be going there looking for a result because we will be looking to finish as high as possible and finish the season strong.”