Programme notesVirgil van Dijk: We have an obligation to keep pushing until the end

The Reds host Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield in the Premier League this afternoon, looking to return to winning ways after a defeat by Everton and a draw against West Ham United to end April.

And in his column in the matchday programme, Van Dijk outlined the need for the squad to get back on track and finish the season with momentum.

The captain writes: "We've now reached the final three games of the season and the finishing line is coming into view, but this doesn't mean there is any scope for easing up. The opposite is actually true – we have an obligation to ourselves and to our supporters to keep on pushing all the way to the end.

"If we do this then we can see where we end up. No-one needs me to say what is and isn't possible, everyone can see the league table and make their own minds up about where we are likely to finish, but whatever the likely outcome might be our aim has to be to finish the season as strongly as we possibly can.

"The reasons for this are clear. Firstly, we always want to win as many games as we possibly can. Secondly, we know it's unlikely that both of the teams above us will slip up, but we have to be ready just in case they do. Thirdly, experience tells us that ending one season positively can definitely create a momentum that can be taken into the next one.

"The incentives are there for all of us to see so let's go for it. There will be a time to take stock when we can make our own minds up about the season we have had, but that time is not now. The only focus at this point should be collecting as many points as we can from the last nine that are available to us.

"For this to happen we know there will need to be some improvement. We have been inconsistent in recent weeks and that has cost us. So putting this right is definitely an important objective.

"I don't think we have played particularly badly – in some games we have actually played well but haven't made the most of our superiority – but at the same time we haven't got the results that we have been looking for and this needs to change.

"The good thing is we have shown regularly throughout this season that we are more than capable of achieving the kind of consistency that we are striving for. We know what it takes and we know what is required, so it is a question of returning to the kind of standards we have set for ourselves before.

"We don't need to listen to outside noise or dream it all up again. It's just about rediscovering something that we have already shown that we can do."

• Get your copy of the matchday programme at Anfield this afternoon