A back-up keeper's lot in life isn't always fun, but the good ones find a way to take it in stride. When it comes to warming that bench with aplomb, Brad Jones has done a good job for Liverpool over the years by making serviceable cup appearances when called upon and, ultimately, not doing a heck of a lot of complaining when he's not asked to take up a position between the posts. Now that he's featuring regularly — indefinitely — he's just happy to get a few games.
"It's been good to be back in the team," Jones said on the opportunity afforded to him by Simon Mignolet's unceremonious benching. "I always want to play as many games as I can and to be given the opportunity. I am happy to go out there, try and do my best to help the team and hope that I do well enough to play the next one.
"I haven't had an awful lot to do in the last three games. I have tried to help the team in certain situations. I have tried to play as much as I can in the way the manager wants me to play. In football, and especially with goalkeepers, circumstances dictate how much you do and when you do it. Sometimes you might not have a chance to do anything. I just try and play as best as I can in every aspect."
Some might argue that if you don't have a lot to do in a game, it behooves you to be very much on your game on the rare occasions that you do have something to do in a match. Still, although there have been some uninspiring moments in Jones' performances, the man is coming off a relatively long period of not featuring in the league. Out of contract at the end of the season, Jones is hoping his performances help earn him an extension.
"I'm playing to get a new contract," Jones confirmed, "but I've been playing that way since I signed my first contract. There have been no talks yet but of course I'd like to stay, especially if I'm playing."
With Liverpool's goalkeeper situation feeling tremendously unresolved at the moment, Jones' fate may hang in the balance of Simon Mignolet's and any other new recruits. Liverpool have been warned off Petr Cech as a January target, but if they intend to sign new keeper while choosing to hold off until the summer, Jones' future may become less clear over the next month or so if he does not soon receive the contract extension he's hoping for.