In a season that has tested his character and confidence, Gavin Bazunu enjoyed an afternoon to remember by frustrating Manchester United and was given a ringing endorsement by his new manager Ruben Selles.

A strong display from the Dubliner in his side’s scoreless draw means that he has kept three clean sheets in his last four matches, a welcome statistic in a year where they haven’t always read favourably for him.

The story of those four games is probably a snapshot of his season. Bazunu was excellent in another nil all away to Chelsea before conceding a poor goal in a loss at Leeds. He got away with one bad error in last week’s victory over Leicester before producing one of his best displays of the season at the home of Erik ten Hag’s side with a top drawer stop from Bruno Fernandes the highlight.

The 21-year-old’s ability to go to venues like Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford and look at home explains why he is so highly regarded by everyone that works with him. There have been momentary lapses of concentration in lower profile encounters that have posed him problems. It’s striking, though, that Bazunu has been picked for every league game where he has been available with successive managers sticking with the Shamrock Rovers product and resisting any temptation to turn to the more experienced Alex McCarthy.

“"I think Gavin has been fighting all season," said Ruben Selles. "He's been the number one all season and has had some moments where people doubted him. But he's a young goalkeeper and one of those with the most minutes under 21 in Europe.

"I think he's showing his character as a goalkeeper. We are really protecting him well, keeping the opposition away from the box. But then when the time comes, he is there for us. There is solidarity and generosity from him to the team, and from the team to him.

"He's not doing it alone - we're reducing the amount of chances that we conceded. But when he needs to do his job, he's doing it properly. So we're happy for him, but it's a team effort not just him.”

A good patch for Bazunu is most welcome for Stephen Kenny with the visit of France coming over the horizon. Caoimhin Kelleher was absent from Liverpool’s weekend squad with a minor ailment but his absence of gametime has killed his prospects of unshipping Bazunu from the number one spot.

It’s been a troubling spell for another of Kenny’s leading lights with Nathan Collins falling out of favour at Wolves. He did get off the bench for the second week in succession, featuring for the final 15 minutes of their defeat at Newcastle. That’s better than Norwich’s Andrew Omobamidele who was confined to the bench for their Championship loss at home to Sunderland. Adam Idah was hooked at half-time.

Dara O’Shea and John Egan are the squad regulars seeing plenty of action in the Championship. Egan is enduring a bit of a stressful period with Sheffield United’s loss at home to Luton opening up the Championship automatic promotion race. Darragh Lenihan’s Middlesbrough are very much in the mix. O’Shea’s West Brom are in form and now firmly in the playoff picture; they enjoyed a second successive 1-0 win with Huddersfield on the receiving end.

Shane Duffy’s chances of making the squad Kenny names on Thursday are already on thin ice and the calf problem that prevented him from taking his spot on the bench for their defeat to Arsenal doesn’t help the situation. Seamus Coleman is in a better place after featuring in Everton’s victory over Brentford and he’s put his hand up for involvement if match sharpness is a determining factor.