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VIRGIL van Dijk is adamant heâs fully behind the Saints cause and âgiving 100 per centâ for the club â despite pushing for a move away in the summer transfer window.
The Dutchman, who handed in a transfer request amid interest from Liverpool and was banished to train alone while his future was decided, insists heâs moved on from the saga that consumed the summer months.
âI donât think itâs appropriate to comment on anything that happened before,â he said. âIâm giving 100 per cent for the club, I work hard every day, I help my team-mates and Iâm positive and I want to win every game.
When asked if heâs moved on from what happened, he said: âI think thatâs pretty clear. Iâve been playing, you can judge for yourself. I feel good.â
The 26-year-old has now made six appearances this term, including five starts and says heâs âhappyâ at Saints for now.
âIâm happy and thatâs the most important thing. Weâll see what happens,â he said.
âIâm just getting back to pace and I feel like Iâve been growing every game,â he added.
âYou know, coming back from an eight month injury is not easy but Iâm feeling better every week.â
After tallying just five points in their last six Premier League matches, the Netherlands international knows Saints must start to progress under Mauricio Pellegrino.
Van Dijk believes that the international break will be an ideal pause to get their mentality right before a tough run until the end of the year.
âEvery game is important and itâs going to be even more important now to get some points and we know we can play very well against everyone,â he said.
âBut, we just need to keep going, stay positive and work hard every week.
âFor now, we need to recharge with some of the players going back to their countries and work hard there as well and come back fit and be ready for Liverpool.â
Van Dijk was left frustrated after the miserable defeat to Burnley on Saturday, which made it two wins from seven matches at St Maryâs in the league, and eight in all competitions.
He said: âGoals. Itâs very clear that we should have scored. We should have done much better, we canât be losing at home against Burnley with all due respect and we are all very disappointed.
âYou work hard to score and we had lots of opportunities so we have to just keep on going.
âWe have to try and keep a clean sheet as well and today I donât think they got any chances and itâs frustrating for us defenders that from their only chance they got a goal.â
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