Press conferenceVirgil van Dijk: We must match Ajax's intensity and more

The Dutch centre-back answered journalists' questions at the Johan Cruyff Arena ahead of the Reds' Champions League tie in the Netherlands on Wednesday night.

Read on for a summary below...

On the Nottingham Forest defeat and striving for consistency...

I think what the manager said after the game, the last game, we only had ourselves to blame. I think we had the chances to score, I had a couple of moments I should have scored and on another day they will go in. It was a very, very intense, difficult week; six days, actually, with a fantastic win against City, a difficult one against West Ham – second half was difficult – and then an away game, an early kick-off against Forest, who were struggling before the game. We tried everything.

We know our performance in general has to be consistent, like it always was and that's what we try to do as well. Obviously there are always reasons for why things are not going as well and we try to sort that and do everything in our power to do that. That's what we work for. That's the situation.

On wanting to improve the away record with only one win so far...

That is obviously not something that we like and that is something we want to improve as a group. We will try to show the intensity that we always want to show from tomorrow again. We need that. Every game we play, whether it is away or at home, it's always a difficult task and it's a different ask from us as well. For example, the last away game against Forest, you play against a very deep side.

You try to break them down, obviously you have to be patient and do the right stuff, what I said, every game is a different ask. We want to improve the situation; we want to improve the away results and it starts tomorrow. We want to show tomorrow again that we are Liverpool and one of the biggest teams and clubs in the world.

On how tough facing Ajax in Amsterdam can be...

Ajax is a fantastic, fantastic club. Historically as well with the philosophy and the way they play and also the players. They don't have also the best moment, but I know how it can be here on a Champions League night when things go well for them. That's something we are prepared for. We have to match the intensity at least and do even more, so it will be interesting tomorrow. It will be nice and is something we should look forward to. As I said, we shouldn't forget ourselves how good we are, keep the confidence and try to be consistent again.

On the possibility of progressing from the group with a positive result...

Of course, of course. We are not coming here to defend or just get a draw – we want to win the game. We want to show our qualities and get a good feeling of our performance and hopefully make sure we go through tomorrow.

We know how tough it will be, but they will know how tough it will be as well. We have to be confident, go out there and enjoy the game, enjoy the occasion. It's Champions League and everyone wants to be playing on this level and so do I.

On wanting to get back to the level he achieved against Manchester City...

I do everything possible that I can do to achieve that. I play as much as possible, the level that I reach should not go down. I just try to keep consistency in my play. That's just the most important thing; find that consistency. Then you can start enjoying as much as you can, if you don't enjoy, this can help you through when it's not going well.

On whether some results have been a 'shock' this season...

I don't think there is time for a shock within ourselves. Everyone can look in the mirror and know if they do something well or don't do something as good as they normally do. The only way to get this going again and get that level again that we all know we can have, because we have the players and we have that quality, is by playing games. We need everyone with that. We need all the players, we need fit players, we need the fans, and we need results and we need to grind out results as well in order to get momentum.

I think that's what we showed against City and showed against West Ham. Against Forest, what I said in the first answer, it was ourselves to blame. We should have buried that game; we didn't and fair play to them they won it. You move on. I don't think when we are in a moment when we are trying to get there again then these results could definitely give you a bigger hit than before, but we will focus and be positive about tomorrow and try to get the job done and win the game.

On the recent change in system and whether it has altered how Liverpool defend...

I don't think so. I think in the way we play; we have a start system but it's also about filling it in with life, basically. You need the intensity in order to make it work and regardless of what position, or what formation you play. I don't think it changes much in my position and I don't think we drop off maybe as much as has been spoken about. If you speak about the game against City, for example, when you know they're going to have the ball also quite a bit, but you be aware of the players they have.

That's what you try to do in every game, try to read what kind of players the opponent has and what their strengths are. That's how you just be prepared for any scenarios. Tomorrow is going to be the same, they have fantastic players in midfield who can play the balls in behind, good crossers and stuff – they play out good from the back. So, you have to be prepared to do certain things in defending different than in other games. The formation is just the starting position and then it is about intensity and making sure you win the battle.