Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk issued a defiant message after the devastating news that he will miss the majority of the season with a torn ACL.
The Dutchman was forced out of the Merseyside derby after a nasty challenge from Jordan Pickford.
Scan results showed that Van Dijk had torn his Anterior Cruciate Ligament and he’s expected to be out for a minimum of five months – which would be a best case scenario.
That would see Van Dijk miss the majority of the season and he’ll be hoping he can prove his fitness in time to feature in the European Championships.
However, despite the negative news, Van Dijk insists everything happens for a reason and says he’ll be back stronger than ever.
‘This afternoon I met with a leading consultant to start the process of planning the finer details of my rehabilitation following the incident yesterday,’ said Van Dijk.
‘I’m not fully focused on my recovery and will do everything I can to be back as quickly as possible.
‘Despite the obvious disappointment, I am a full believer that within difficulty lies opportunity and with God’s help I am 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 keep level-headed, whether going through the highs or the lows. With the support of my wife, kids, family and everyone at Liverpool I am ready for the challenge ahead. I would like to think 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 team-mates in anyway I can ahead of a big few weeks ahead as I take my own recovery day-by-day. I’ll be back’.
Nevertheless, the goalkeeper could have been sent off if the challlenge was deemed ‘serious foul play’.
Liverpool have asked the Premier League to explain the decision, as well as clarification over why their injury time winner was disallowed.
