Dimi 'cringed' for clanger keeper Mejias but backs him to bounce back

Sympathetic shot-stopper Dimi Konstantopoulos has admitted he “cringed” as Tomas Mejias dropped a string of early season keeper clangers.

But the Greek keeper is backing the Spaniard to eventually come good at Boro.

Mejias arrived last term initially on loan from Real Madrid where he had worked with Aitor Karanka in the giant club’s reserves set-up.

Mejias faced a baptism of fire with a series of fumbles in a 1-0 loss in his debut at Sheffield Wednesday then was sidelined for the rest of the campaign with a dislocated finger.

He signed a permanent deal in the summer and was named as Karanka’s first choice keeper.

But a turbulent start saw him come under intense criticism and he was dropped after some costly blunders.

And Konstantopoulos, restored to the team in his place, felt for him.

“No matter if it’s your team-mate or not, when you see another goalkeeper make a mistake you just cringe because you know how it is,” he said.

“You really feel for them. In any other position on the field, if you make a mistake there’s somebody behind you to cover. In our position there’s only the net.

“It’s a responsible position on the pitch and it requires a lot of mental concentration.

“The game lasts 90 minutes but even if you don’t have anything to do you have to concentrate all the time just in case you are required to do something,” he explained.

Mejias carried the can after a torrid opening spell. He kept a clean sheet in the opening day 2-0 win over Birmingham but then came under fire after leaking six goals in four games - many of them directly from his own mistakes.

“Tomas’s situation – he’s been under criticism - it’s part of the game,” said Dimi.

“In my career I’ve been through situations like that and if you come through those spells it makes you stronger.

“But Tomas is a very good keeper. He was at Real Madrid for a reason, he’s trained with the best and played with the best and I think he’s got a lot of potential.”

In recent weeks Mejias has returned to the bench but must bide his time with Dimi in solid form behind a tight defence.

And having been there in the queue himself, Dimi knows what his team-mate is feeling.

“It is always hard, every player wants to play, no matter what,” he said.

“If you don’t believe in yourself you shouldn’t be in the game but on the other hand you have to respect your manager’s decisions.

“Especially in our position. It’s different from other positions as you can only name one goalkeeper in the team, so you have to bide your time.

“If you are not playing you have to try everyday to show the manager you can play and you want to play and you must wait for your chance.

“Ultimately that’s what I had to do and I think the fact that I had experience helped me keep a cool head because I’ve been in that situation before.”