Mike Penders on his first Premier League start against Tottenham. Photo: Chelsea FC

Xabi Alonso has stood firmly behind Mike Penders after the young goalkeeper’s own goal against Tottenham, and the Chelsea head coach has confirmed the Belgian will keep his place for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie at Anfield.

Alonso: “We keep confidence in Mike”

Penders was handed his first Premier League start in Saturday’s derby at Stamford Bridge, filling in while Emi Martínez recovers from his jaw injury. For much of the afternoon it looked like a debut to remember. Before the break he made two important saves, keeping out efforts from Omar Marmoush and Mathys Tel.

The second half turned against him. From a corner, with Jan Paul van Hecke challenging him, the ball ended up in his own net, and Tottenham added a late second to win 2-0 in west London. Our full report on the Spurs defeat covers a frustrating evening that also saw Cole Palmer sent off.

Speaking afterwards, Alonso made it clear that the 21-year-old will not be dropped. In comments published on the club’s official website, he said: “It’s part of the business; you need to deal with mistakes and we keep confidence in Mike and he will be in goal against Liverpool.”

He also spread the responsibility across the whole squad. “We win and we lose together and it’s part of the job to deal with mistakes, myself as well as everyone,” Alonso said, adding that the club would back both Penders and Geovany Quenda, who were starting their first Premier League games. “He will want to prove he can do better,” the Spaniard said of his goalkeeper, “and we also have to show that.”

Dressing room rallies round the young Belgian

The message from the players has been the same. Maxence Lacroix told the club’s media team that the squad will carry Penders through a difficult moment rather than leave him isolated.

“He is a young goalkeeper and he has a lot of talent,” the French defender said. “He will learn from this. This can happen in football careers and in life, everyone makes mistakes, and we have to be with him and we are going to be with him.”

Lacroix also framed the upcoming fixtures against Liverpool and Manchester United as the perfect chance to respond. “We have to show the reaction of a competitor,” he said. “We want to show another face, we want to win there, and it’s going to be a big game.”

Why the decision matters

Naming a goalkeeper for a cup tie several days in advance says a lot about how Alonso wants to handle this. With Martínez still out, there was always going to be a question over whether Penders would be protected after such a visible error. Alonso has answered it straight away, which removes any guesswork for the player before one of the toughest away trips in English football.

A Carabao Cup fourth round tie at Anfield is a demanding place to rebuild confidence, but it is also an opportunity. A composed display on Merseyside would go a long way towards settling the debate around Chelsea’s goalkeeping while Martínez is sidelined, and it would reward the faith shown by the head coach and his teammates.

In other news…

Penders only stepped in after Martínez underwent surgery and gave an update on his return.

We also looked at why Penders was handed the gloves for the Tottenham game in the first place.