Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk regrets firing back at his doubters after winning the Carabao Cup final.

Many critics have claimed Van Dijk has never fully recovered from the ACL injury he suffered two years ago.

In response, Van Dijk posed with the Carabao Cup trophy and posted to social media: 'they said I was finished'.

But Van Dijk told the Daily Mail: "I shouldn't have said that.

"Because I don't want to have the wrong intentions. That was part of the emotion coming out of me because there were so many emotions going through my whole body that day. Last season was disappointing.

"Not disappointing in a way that I was bad, I didn't feel like that at all, I was below my standards and the consistency wasn't there that I have had and set for myself in each and every game. Maybe it was good to say because it gets it out of me, but I don't like noise around me.

"The break helped massively in the summer and that brought me into good shape. I feel very comfortable this season in every aspect of the game, obviously confidence is a big driver when you play the game but in general I think I have made big steps in possession.

"The manager said the other day that it is not just as simple as wearing the armband and there are a lot of things that just clicked again. The responsibility I have has helped that, but I feel that I have made steps (forward). I want to continue enjoying it and see what it leads to."