Virgil van Dijk: I'm fully focused on my recovery - I'll be back
Virgil van Dijk is focused on returning to fitness as quickly as possible after it was confirmed that the Liverpool centre-back requires knee surgery.
The Reds' No.4 sustained a knee injury during the early stages of Saturday's 2-2 Merseyside derby draw at Goodison Park and further assessment revealed that an operation will be needed.
Van Dijk posted the following message on social media on Sunday evening:
This afternoon I met with a leading consultant to start the process of planning the finer details of my rehabilitation following the incident yesterday.
I’m now fully focused on my recovery and will do everything I can to be back as quickly as possible.
Despite the obvious disappointment, I’m a firm believer that within difficulty lies opportunity and with God’s help I’m going to make sure I return better, fitter and stronger than ever before.
In football, as in life, I believe everything happens for a reason and it’s important to try and keep level-headed whether going through the highs or the lows. With the support of my wife, kids, family and everyone at Liverpool, I’m ready for the challenge ahead.
I’d like to thank everyone for the messages of support, it’s meant a huge amount to me and my family, and I’ll now be doing everything possible to support my teammates in any way I can ahead of a big few weeks ahead as I take my own recovery day by day. I’ll be back.
Virgil van Dijk