Virgil insists Trent fully deserves support from the Liverpool supporters

NOT for the first time this season, it was left to the Liverpool captain to make a timely intervention.

- By IAN DOYLE

As Trent Alexander-Arnold loitered among his team-mates applauding the away end after the final whistle on Sunday, he was given a friendly shove by Virgil van Dijk.

Given the mixed recep-tion the right-back’s intro-duction from the bench during the second half had received - primarily posi-tive but with an audible smattering of boos - his seeming reluctance was understandable.

Alexander-Arnold, though, need not have worried as the Liverpool support responded with a huge ovation for the player who marked his return from injury with the matchwinning goal at Leicester City to send Arne Slot’s side to the brink of the Premier League title.

"We forget that we are dealing with a human being,” says Van Dijk.

“Everyone will have an opinion on the way he's been, but for us as players, we want to win games and he’s been important throughout the season.

“There’s still games to go and we need to have the best Trent Alexander-Arnold and what happens in the future will happen - that’s football.”

Alexander-Arnold, of course, is the remaining Liverpool player set to be out of contract in the sum-mer after Van Dijk fol-lowed Mohamed Salah in agreeing a new deal.