Virgil van Dijk is on course to win his fitness battle to return for Liverpool’s Premier League opener at Norwich City.

The classy centre back was a huge miss in the Reds’ failed title defence, after a nine month layoff with a knee injury.

Van Dijk made his long-awaited return in last week’s pre-season friendly against Hertha Berlin, and aims to be a part of Jurgen Klopp’s plans for Saturday’s trip to Norfolk.

The former Celtic ace is poised to be involved in Sunday afternoon's Anfield friendly against Bilbao, as the Reds fine tune their preparations to face the Canaries.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about what the manager wants and we will see how it progresses,” he said. “It’s something I’ve worked for (for) so long. It might be a small thing, but the start of team training was such a big day for me; normally I don’t really get nervous but those kind of small things make me, not nervous, but a bit excited and stuff.

"The same goes for the game – you’ve been visualising so many times yourself playing a game again and just to be out there again.

“There are obviously plenty of things to improve still and to get back to full fitness, but to get out there again gave me so much confidence. I am just ready to crack on, to push on again.

“You can do team training again, but if your knee reacts to it or your knee can’t handle it then obviously you have to slow down a little bit. Surprisingly for some, things have been going very well, no reaction, the feeling is good, the confidence is there and it’s just about getting back to fitness.”

The Dutch international senses a renewed determination in the Liverpool squad on the eve of the new Premier League, and believes that team spirit will be crucial to compete with their title rivals again.

“I think that should be a standard in a team. You should be able to have a good team spirit, otherwise you wouldn’t succeed anyway,” he said, speaking to his club’s official site. “So, that should be the base layer of success, to have that right team spirit. Then it’s all about what happens on the pitch in that 95 minutes.

“If we are doing it all together, pressing together, defending together, as we always want to do it, we always have a good chance to get a good result. So, that’s the focus we should have and I am confident that will happen.”