Virgil van Dijk believes that Bradley Barcola's hat-trick will be "massive" for the France international after he opened his Liverpool account in style against LASK in the Champions League.

Barcola did not score or get an assist in his first six games for Liverpool, but the 24-year-old, who the Reds signed from PSG for £123m in the summer, took the match ball home on Wednesday in Austria.

"It's massive for him. He's very introverted anyway. He won't express his feelings too much but everyone knows that will help him so much. Hopefully there are many more hat-tricks to come," said the Liverpool captain.

Van Dijk arrived on Merseyside in 2018 for a then club-record fee of £75m and, asked how Liverpool can help Barcola settle in, the 35-year-old said: "It's about creating the environment where he can express himself on the pitch.

"As a footballer, you always want to be out there, showing what you can do. For him, scoring goals is a big part of his game.

"To get a hat-trick in the Champions League is a great thing for him and for us.

"You can share experiences, for sure. It's about helping each other to succeed. We're in it together. Bradley is getting into it now, he'll be absolutely fine."

Van Dijk wasn't in the starting eleven for the game in Austria after taking a small blow to the calf against Manchester City on Sunday, but the defender expects to be fully fit for the trip to Brentford on Saturday.

He came on alongside Joe Gomez just after the hour mark as head coach Andoni Iraola took off Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo and, after the changes, Liverpool conceded three goals.

"I didn't expect to come on whatsoever. It was a surprise. I'm still recovering a bit [after getting a kick to the calf against City]," said Van Dijk.

"It had been a long time since I didn't start a game like that. I still did everything I could off the pitch to help the team. It was unusual for me [not starting] but it's part of life. I think I'll be fine for Saturday.

"Obviously Joe and I made it interesting after we came on after 60 minutes, but sometimes these things happen."

And Van Dijk praised his team-mates as Liverpool's third-youngest starting XI in Champions League history romped to victory in a game that had nine goals.

"It was a crazy game. I'm really happy for everyone. Bradley, Kostas [Tsimikas], Trey [Nyoni], [Lewis] Koumas, everyone stepped up," he added.

"There were so many good things tonight that should get attention. The credit the young boys get is well deserved.

"Now it's time to go home and recover. We don't have too much time before we face Brentford in another tough game on Saturday.

"Trey, Rio, Lewis - working so hard, and I was happy for Lewis to get that goal. Happy days."