Virgil van Dijk sends message to booing Liverpool fans after vital points dropped in Burnley draw

Such was the Dutchman's irritation that he departed the changing room more swiftly than usual to address journalists after the Reds surrendered yet more points in their faltering campaign.

The sequence of drawn matches represents Liverpool's worst such run in league competition since 2008, marking a deeply concerning period for the Merseyside club.

The result brought jeers from large parts of Anfield as Liverpool missed the opportunity to close the gap to second-placed Manchester City to five points to leave them fourth by only a point with Manchester United, Chelsea, Brentford, Sunderland and Newcastle all within striking distance.

The Reds' captain is also set to convene a squad meeting at Liverpool's training facility on Monday as the club's hopes of securing Champions League football face mounting pressure.

Monday's gathering at the training ground will carry significant weight as Van Dijk seeks answers from his teammates for the second occasion this campaign.

The defender previously called players together following their defeat to Manchester United in October, amid a dismal stretch that saw Liverpool lose nine of 12 fixtures.

Addressing the fans' reaction to the draw, Van Dijk said: "I don’t like boos from my own fans."

However, in relation to the race for fourth place, he admitted a continued failure to take their chances would make it a tough ask.

He added: "I don’t look at the rest.

"We have to just look at ourselves and if we play like we did - even by creating chances in the last half an hour of today - then it will be difficult so we have to improve ourselves rather than looking at the others."

The Liverpool captain said: “I’m frustrated that after 60 minutes we started to become sloppy and it’s not the first time,” he said as preparations begin for a significant Champions League trip to Marseille.

"It’s been spoken about already but we have to address it again apparently and Monday will be a big one for it because Wednesday will be a very difficult game over there not only because of the atmosphere but it’s against a (Roberto) De Zerbi team who make it very difficult for you.

"It’s not about me addressing it, it is about how can we solve it because we all want to win games and we had plenty of chances to do so (against Burnley)."

Dominik Szoboszlai crashed a penalty against the crossbar before Florian Wirtz’s fourth goal in six matches appeared to pave the way for Arne Slot’s side to exert their dominance.

But despite 32 shots they failed to get the crucial second and Marcus Edwards equalised with Burnley’s only effort on target in the 65th minute.

Mohamed Salah is set to return next week, although whether he is available for Marseille having lost a third-place play-off in the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday remains to be seen.

Salah’s departure a month ago came after a fall-out with Slot, having accused the club of "throwing him under the bus” after the team’s poor results saw him dropped to the bench.

Van Dijk said: “Obviously with his quality he can win games and have good results. Mo is a very important member of our squad on and off the pitch. Unfortunately he couldn’t get to the final of the AFCON but when he is back he needs to help us.”

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