VIRGIL EYES TITLE AFTER ‘AMAZING’ COMEBACK

VIRGIL VAN DIJK hailed yesterday’s return from his injury hell as ‘amazing’ and believes that if Liverpool’s stars can stay fit, they will be challenging for the title.

The Dutch defender was back at the heart of Liverpool’s defence at Norwich — his first start in 301 days after suffering a cruciate ligament injury at Everton last October .

‘It’s amazing, to be honest,’ Van Dijk said of his long-awaited comeback which ended in a

3-0 win. ‘I’m certainly happy that I’m out there again with the team. I need games — I know it.’

Van Dijk, who signed a new four-year deal at Anfield last week, described how it was the mental challenge rather than the pain of the injury which made the last ten months so hard.

‘You’re going from one day of being fully fit to the next day when you can’t walk, you are full of medication, full of pain, you can’t sleep,’ he continued. ‘Mentally, that’s tough, especially in the beginning. But I made great steps in pre-season and this is another big step.’

Van Dijk put in a towering defensive display alongside Joel Matip with a clean sheet and he believes Liverpool can be title contenders in what promises to be a wide-open race.

‘It’s exciting to see the Premier League like this,’ he said. ‘The quality that the league has at this point is exciting.

‘If I’m thinking about our own team, if we stay fit, we have a good chance to be up there. You have to enjoy it and I certainly will, having been out for so long.’

Manager Jurgen Klopp praised Liverpool’s professional performance as Mo Salah’s goal saw him become the first Premier League player to score in five consecutive opening weekends.

‘Pretty much as good as it gets,’ said Klopp. ‘The result depends on the performance and I thought we were absolutely good enough to win. It was a very professional performance.

‘An away game, against a newly-promoted team, in a packed stadium for the first time, they celebrate everything, so I am really happy with how we played — but we can play better.’