Liverpool great John Aldridge says Nat Phillips is proving his value this season.

Aldridge insists Phillips is a player who has earned the right to have a run in the team.

"He has not let Liverpool down in any game he has played and in circumstances like this, some players rise to the challenge and prove they are up to task," Aldo told the Sunday World.

"Phillips is an old fashioned defender. No nonsense, gets the job done and he has dealt with everything that has come his way since he got his chance in the first team.

"He is outstanding in the air and that commanding presence has been lacking since Virgil van Dijk got injured, so he looks like a player who can save the club millions this summer.

"I'm sure Liverpool were looking at brining in two centre-backs this summer as Joel Matip and Joe Gomez are so injury prone and they can't allow themselves to be so exposed defensively as they have been this season.

"Yet the idea that the club might have to find the cash for two centre-backs was always going to push them financially, so Klopp might say he only needs one now with the way Phillips is playing."