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Liverpool captain Van Dijk: Resilience key in title battle

Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk admits they must maintain the resilience that saw them beat Luton Town on Wednesday night.

The Reds were 1-0 down at home, with no senior forwards to sub onto the field to change the game.

However, they rallied with the team that manager Jurgen Klopp had put out at the start, going on to win 4-1.

"With all the difficulties we had and the changes we had to make, it was always going to be a tough game," said the Reds skipper post-game.

"Nobody was really satisfied with that first half. We were too much in a rush, especially in the final third. We rushed it a little bit and didn't find the last pass.

"It's quite normal that you start to become nervous a little bit up front when you aren't making the right decision. Staying calm is the most difficult thing to do, especially in the situation where we are at - everyone wants to show themselves and play their best game ever and you have to try to stay calm and find the right solution.

"Being 1-0 down is never nice but the way we bounced back is good to see. Luton are a good side, they play football and take some risks, and when we win the ball high we had to punish them and we did that in the second half with the energy we put in and the right decisions we made.

"It was key to stay calm. It's been an eventful game, with the man-marking they do you are going to have spaces if you play it out in a good way and second half obviously the energy we put in and the goals we scored were very important.

"The reaction we showed was outstanding. The resilience is again something we need for the rest of the season. Today was a big one."

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Ansser Sadiq

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