Southampton boss Mauricio Pellegrino insists Virgil van Dijk won't walk back into his starting XI.

The £70m rated Dutchman returned to Premier League action for the first time since the Liverpool saga by making a late cameo in last weekend's win at Crystal Palace.

But van Dijk is likely to find himself back on the bench when Manchester United visit St Mary's tomorrow, despite boss Mauricio Pellegrino admitting the 26-year-old needs games.

Pellegrino said: “We will decide if he plays tomorrow but every single week for Virgil is important because he is getting better after a long period of time without playing a game.

“He is an important player for us and I think that every single week he will improve but at the same time he needs to train and he needs to play.

“The best training session for me is to play games and now he is playing in the reserves but the good news is that he is involved in the team and is training well.

“He will continue to play in some of the reserve matches but not all of them as I would like to introduce him little by little."