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Van Dijk returns to Southampton first-team training after failed Liverpool switch

The centre-back is back training with the main squad but manager Mauricio Pellegrino remains cautious over his return to action.

VIRGIL VAN DIJK is back training with the Southampton first team, but coach Mauricio Pellegrino is unsure when he will be ready to return to action.

The centre-back, who has not featured since January due to an ankle injury, was left out of a pre-season trip to France and handed in a transfer request in August in an attempt to force an exit from St Mary’s.

Liverpool were initially keen to land Van Dijk, 26, but publicly ended their interest in him amid allegations of an illegal approach.

Van Dijk had been training apart from the group and was overlooked for Southampton’s opening three Premier League games and the EFL Cup clash with Wolves.

Pellegrino confirmed he is back among the first-team, but suggested the 26-year-old will need patience given the amount of time he has spent out of competitive action.

“Now he is training with the team again,” said Pellegrino at a media conference ahead of Saturday’s home match against Watford.

“It depends on the player [when he returns]. We know that he’s coming from a long period of time without playing a game and he needs to train and to play games.

“You have to show on the pitch how you are. Now everything is normal, this is good news for us.”

Saints chairman Ralph Krueger insisted Van Dijk was not for sale in the final weeks of the transfer window, and Pellegrino appreciated the strong stance.

He said: “The message is that in this moment we don’t need to sell players and we need to keep our best players to be more competitive – it’s the message from the owners, the board, our chairman, our director and it’s really good.

“We are now in a difficult moment to make a small step. To achieve this step we have to keep our best players, to work with them, to be a team, and now to build a team.”

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    Mute Hardly Normal
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    Mar 22nd 2015, 7:36 PM

    Vincent Debaty, unreal support running from the prop, amazing run as well Nakaitaci ..

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    Mute Phil O' Meara
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    Mar 22nd 2015, 8:22 PM

    100% best try. I reckon the effort probably took a year off his life.

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    Mute Peter Slattery
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    Mar 22nd 2015, 8:38 PM

    Love that he immediately had to go off. He literally gave everything for the try. And was forced back on. Unbelievable. What a day.

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    Mute @Aoifs2707
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    Mar 22nd 2015, 9:14 PM

    Agree 100% Vincent ran at some pace, and scored a crucial try. What a fecking legend the next time he is in Limerick the pints are on me!!!

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    Mute Deirdre Murphy
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    Mar 22nd 2015, 9:14 PM

    Magic stuff. Is that Nigel Owens in the background saying “every game should be like this”? And they were singing a cracking rendition of Swing low when the move started. Love the six nations.

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    Mute Paul McNevin
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    Mar 22nd 2015, 7:27 PM

    I’m still dancing at the crossroads, the wifi isn’t great.

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    Mute Gibson O Driscoll
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    Mar 22nd 2015, 8:38 PM

    Great tries great day. But a try saving tackle by Jammy won it for us. Never been a Heaslip fan but he earned his corn yesterday.

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    Mute Peter Slattery
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    Mar 22nd 2015, 8:37 PM

    Great article. We’ll done on compiling the list!

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    Mute Niall B.
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    Mar 22nd 2015, 9:20 PM

    Great line from Owens after the Debaty try ‘Every game should be like this’

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    Mute Séamus Ó Lochlainn
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    Mar 22nd 2015, 11:23 PM

    Leonardo Sarto for Italy in the last minute! Went from needing 28 points to 21, which was massive psychologically. Bravo sir!

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    Mute Cormac
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    Mar 23rd 2015, 3:43 AM

    Thanks for sharing. Live in USA for last 5 years but still a huge fan. Was following text commentary on Saturday. These are great times for Irish Rugby. We should cherish them.

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    Mute Mark O'Donohoe
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    Mar 22nd 2015, 9:10 PM

    And then this

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    Mute Mark O'Hagan
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    Mar 23rd 2015, 12:01 AM

    The Irish, French and Italian ones.

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