Virgil van Dijk is still 'quite a way' from returning from injury

Virgil van Dijk is still ‘quite a way’ from returning from his horror knee injury, reveals Jurgen Klopp, as Liverpool boss pours cold water on fans’ excitement after defender posted a clip of himself running at training base

• Jurgen Klopp dismissed any suggestions Virgil van Dijk is closing in on a return 
• Reds defender posted video clip of himself running at the club’s training ground
• Liverpool manager revealed the Dutchman is still ‘quite a way’ from comeback

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp dismissed any suggestions that Virgil van Dijk is edging closer to making his comeback.

The Reds defender posted a video clip of himself running at the club’s training ground on Thursday, which got Liverpool fans excited that a possible return was near.

However Klopp has revealed that the Dutchman, who suffered an horrific knee injury following a reckless challenge by Jordan Pickford in the Merseyside derby in October, is still ‘quite a way’ from making a full recovery.

Jurgen Klopp poured cold water on fans’ excitement that Virgil van Dijk was close to a return

Reds defender posted a video clip of himself running at the club’s training ground on Thursday

‘I don’t have enough English words to describe the same thing more often,’ the Liverpool boss said in his pre-match press conference to their clash at Manchester United on Sunday,

‘Yes, he is running – Hendo [Jordan Henderson] is running, Joe [Gomez] is running, Joel [Matip] is running.

‘That’s all good; imagine they wouldn’t be able to run in the moment, that would be really bad.

Van Dijk suffered horrific knee injury following reckless challenge by Jordan Pickford last year

‘They are running and in rehab it always starts with straight-line running; I’m not sure if you saw Virg running a lot of curves or just straight, so there are a lot of things to come.

‘You go through a lot of steps until you are finally ready to join team training, especially with long-term injuries – there are a lot of steps to go and they are all quite a way from that.

‘It means nobody told me, “Fasten your seatbelt, make yourself ready, the boys will be in team training next week.” No, nothing changed really, but they are in a good way.’ 

Van Dijk has been a huge miss to Liverpool this season as the Reds’ title defence has been dismantled by a crippling injury crisis. 

Klopp has been forced to play a number of youngsters at the back after losing Matip and Gomez to long-term injuries as well, with the inexperienced Nat Phillips regularly playing alongside January signing Ozan Kabak. 

Liverpool’s top four hopes were dented after being held to a 1-1 draw by Newcastle last weekend. They’re currently four points off fourth-placed Chelsea, who occupy the final Champions League spot, with five games remaining.  

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