Liverpool rally the troops behind van Dijk
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Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson (second from left), said the team will attempt to do the "ridiculous" in drawing a "positive" from the long-term injury to Virgil van Dijk, by winning games in his absence.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON • Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is confident defender Virgil van Dijk will come back stronger as the Dutchman undergoes knee surgery and faces a battle to play again this season.
The Premier League champions said on Sunday that van Dijk, 29, has damaged knee ligaments following a challenge by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford during Saturday's 2-2 Merseyside derby draw at Goodison Park.
His knee operation has yet to be scheduled and Klopp did not put a timescale on the return of the centre back, whose run of starting the last 94 Premier League games will now come to an end.
"A few things are clear... he now will be out for a while," Klopp told Liverpool's website. "I expected it pretty much on Saturday after the game immediately, especially when I saw the challenge back.
"These situations are absolutely rubbish. "You don't need it but you have to get over it and Virgil will get over it, 100 per cent, and today is already the first day, if you want, of the recovery. We are in contact.
"We are there for him, he knows that and we will wait for him like a good wife is waiting when the husband is in jail."
Pickford will not face retrospective action over his challenge after the Football Association determined the incident was seen at the time by the match officials, including VAR(video assistant referee).
Meanwhile, Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson wants the team to use van Dijk's absence as an added incentive to stay in the trophy hunt.
"It's a tough one. It's a big blow for us," Henderson said. "For him personally, obviously. But for us as a team, a massive blow. I'm just gutted for him. It's a difficult moment, but that's when you need to be there for each other."
The skipper said it was up to the team to "win as many games as we can for him".
"That's down to us to make sure that when he is back and he is fit that we're still fighting to be successful and fighting for trophies."
Klopp also said midfielder Naby Keita could feature in today's Champions League Group D match at Ajax Amsterdam after he resumed training following a negative Covid-19 result. The 25-year-old had tested positive for the virus while on international duty with Guinea last week.
Thiago Alcantara will also undergo a fitness test for a knock sustained during the derby.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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