Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has described his debut as a "dream" and insisted that the Reds can use their positive start as a platform for success.

Mignolet saved a late penalty from Jonathan Walters to help Liverpool earn a 1-0 win over Stoke City in their first game of the new Premier League campaign.

The Belgian admitted that he feared the worst when his side failed to go further ahead at Anfield, but was delighted to become an instant hero on Merseyside in a dramatic finale.

He told The Mirror: "There is an unwritten law in football that if you play well and don't take your chances, there will be chances for the ­opposition. I was thinking that, the longer the game went on. I had a feeling they would equalise in the last minute, really.

"It was the debut that you dream of. I had hoped to do something like that, but you never really think you will. Saving a penalty in the last minute, on your first game for Liverpool. It can have a damaging effect if you play well and don't win. We can now go to the next game being relaxed that we can do the same things we have done, rather than feeling anxious that we have to win. It does change things."

Brendan Rodgers's side now turn their attention to their second game of the campaign, against Aston Villa on Saturday evening.