Virgil van Dijk has hailed 'introverted' Bradley Barcola after the Frenchman expressed himself with a ruthless hat-trick on Wednesday evening.

The Reds winger scored three in Liverpool's rout of Austrian champions LASK in the city of Linz to help Andoni Iraola's side keep up their perfect European record.

And van Dijk, who spent most of the game as a substitute, said: 'It's massive for Bradley. 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.

'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.'

Asked about how Barcola can deal with the sky-high price-tag, an issue that van Dijk experienced, he said: '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 came on around the hour mark – and Liverpool ended up conceding three goals, which he joked about, before revealing he is carrying a knock.

'Obviously Joe (Gomez) and I made it interesting after we came on after 60 minutes but sometimes these things happen,' he added.

'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 Manchester City). It had been a long time since I did not 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.'