Virgil van Dijk is relishing the 'massive' week ahead of Liverpool after the relief of a late victory over Crystal Palace.

The Reds returned to Premier League duty with a dramatic 2-1 success at Selhurst Park on Saturday as goals from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah overturned a first-half Luka Milivojevic penalty to secure three points.

Van Dijk and co were forced to dig deep in establishing and preserving the slender advantage against the Eagles, but in doing so ensured they head into the Champions League quarter-final showdown with Manchester City on a positive note.

“I’m looking forward to it. I think every player wants to play these games. We will prepare well and be ready for it,” the centre-back told Liverpoolfc.com.

The Dutchman described the match-winning finale in south London, achieved through Salah’s 37th strike of his sensational debut season, as ‘unbelievable’.

Watch highlights from the win at Palace

“We kept pressing and had opportunities, and obviously it helped us a lot when we scored the early goal after the break. It was a big relief,” reflected Van Dijk.

The No.4 accepted the view that Liverpool fell short of their fluent best against Roy Hodgson’s side, but praised the team for ultimately overcoming the factors at play.

He said of the first half: “We were sloppy in ball possession and then they get the penalty which helps them a lot and gives them confidence.

“We know it’s a very tough place to come and we’ve seen other teams come here and struggle a lot, and for us the result is very important after the international break.

“It’s always difficult to come back and play as well as we want to play, but [it’s] three points and that’s the only thing [that matters].”