Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has claimed that he needs to work on becoming a more commanding figure during matches.

The Belgium international, who signed a new long-term contract in January, has been criticised for a handful of performances this season.

The 27-year-old has revealed that manager Jurgen Klopp has told him and his teammates to have a "nasty" edge on the pitch.

"It's something we've talked about me working on," Mignolet told the Liverpool Echo. "I'm getting older and I need to become a leading and commanding figure.

"Being a bit more aggressive and nasty is something he's asked for throughout the team. That's not something you really work on during time on the training field but you have to try to off the pitch.

"It is something that you have to create and then in the heat of the moment you have to let it out. The only thing you have to change is your character. You have to get in a frame of mind before the game."

Meanwhile, Mignolet and his teammates will be without Klopp this afternoon when they take on Sunderland as the German coach is suffering from a bout of appendicitis.