Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez made ‘important first step’ in return against Hertha Berlin, says Jurgen Klopp

Jurgen Klopp says Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez both made an “important first step” in their return from long-term injuries after featuring in Thursday’s 4-3 friendly defeat to Hertha Berlin.

The centre-backs came on in the 69th minute after being out of action for over nine months.

Van Dijk has been out since last October with an ACL injury, and days later Gomez was also sidelined for the year when he did damage to his left knee, requiring surgery.

Both had been training with Liverpool in their pre-season camp in Austria, but despite Klopp saying they were unlikely to play any minutes against Hertha Berlin, he sprung a surprise by introducing the pair in the second half.

After the game, Klopp said: “It was a nice feeling. Started immediately well and usually we all know that the fourth goal is a clear situation which saw and defend well. But that’s it.

“I’m not sure, 260-something days for Virg and not much less for Joe they didn’t play football, so it’s nice to have them back. It was the first step, really important.”

Van Dijk: Hard to express my feelings
Van Dijk thanked his surgeon and Liverpool staff for helping him in his recovery, admitting he found it difficult to describe how he felt after his long-awaited comeback.

“285 days ago, I started on a journey back towards playing,” said Van Dijk, writing on Twitter.

“It’s hard to express how I am feeling, but it’s important to me that I say I feel blessed to have had the support of so many incredible people.

“The surgeon, my physios, coaches and staff who have been with me in my corner since day one.

“My team-mates for giving me energy and keeping my head up. The fans for their love, support and encouragement.

“And most of all, my family because without them, I’d be nothing. Thank you”bet365 sport. To add to the In-Play excitement, bet365 stream over hundreds of events live to your PC every year. So you can bet as the action unfolds. See all upcoming sport events you can bet at bet experts. Highlights include Masters Series Tennis tournaments and matches from some of the top domestic Soccer leagues in the world. To use the Live Streaming service you need to be log in and have a funded account. Or to have place a bet in the last 24 hours. Any fixture/event on bet365 website and bet365 mobile which has the Play or Video icon is schedule to be show via Live Streaming. bet bg

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