Wantaway Caoimhín Kelleher 'handling situation really well' - Arne Slot

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has praised Caoimhín Kelleher's attitude, following the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper's admission that he sees his future away from Anfield.

Kelleher benefited from the international break as he played his first competitive minutes of the campaign and while he was away he spoke about his desire to become a full-time number one at another club.

The Cork native is back-up to Alisson Becker, but even that position is under threat after Liverpool signed Georgia international Giorgi Mamardashvili, before loaning him back to Valencia until next summer.

"It's been reported that Liverpool have rejected a few bids as well. My ambition is clear that I think I'm good enough and I want to go out and prove it," Kelleher told reporters last week.

Saturday's opponents Nottingham Forest were interested in signing the 25-year-old in the last transfer window and Slot accepts players want to play.

"I would be really worried if a player came out and said, 'I don’t care about playing first-team football, I like it so much on the bench and want to stay there for the rest of my life’. That would be a bigger worry for me," he added.

"But at this moment it is quite clear that Alisson is the number one. He is handling the situation really well."

However, there may be openings for Kelleher as Slot admits it might be necessary to embrace squad rotation more than he has done previously in his career as the demands of the Champions League campaign kick in.

Saturday's visit of Forest is the start of period of seven matches in 22 days, but in his first three games he had made just one change to his starting XI – Ibrahima Konate coming in for Jarell Quansah at centre-back.

During his time at Feyenoord Slot resisted the temptation