Programme notesVirgil van Dijk lauds Jarell Quansah: 'He can be very proud'

Quansah was handed his first competitive start for the Reds at senior level in the 3-1 come-from-behind victory away at Wolverhampton Wanderers last Saturday.

Van Dijk, who was suspended for the fixture but watched from the touchline, was left mightily impressed by the assured 83-minute outing from the young centre-half.

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Writing ahead of Sunday's meeting with West Ham United, the captain said: "One of the big positives from our win at Wolves last weekend was the performance of Jarell Quansah in central defence.

"It is always good to see a young player come through the ranks and we're fortunate at Liverpool to have an Academy which is providing us with quite a few, whether it is Trent, Curtis, Stefan, Doaky or any of the other boys who have been in and around the squad.

"But for obvious reasons, I kept an extra-keen eye on Jarell and it's safe to say he can be very proud of the way he played.

"If there were any nerves he didn't show them and he went about things in a way which suggested he had way more experience than was really the case.

"Now he has taken that all-important first step and shown he can acquit himself well at this level, the next challenge for Jarell is to make the most of that experience by keeping his standards high in training and making the most of whatever opportunities come his way.

"The fact that he is considered good enough to start a Premier League game for Liverpool says everything about his ability so hopefully he will take that experience and go from strength to strength."

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