Virgil van Dijk insists "there is no reason to panic" after Liverpool kick-started their Champions League campaign with a nervy 4-3 win over Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday night.
The Reds raced into a three-goal lead inside 40 minutes after strikes from Sadio Mane, Andy Robertson and Sadio Mane before the free-scoring Austrians responded through Hee-chan Hwang before half time.
After the restart, the visitors stunned the Reds with a quick-fire double from Takumi Minamino and Erling Haaland, who made it 3-3 moments after arriving as a substitute to take his tally up to 18 goals in 13 games this term.
The European champions dug deep, however, and found a fourth through Mohamed Salah to give the Reds their first win of the tournament after opening their defence of the trophy with a 2-0 defeat at Napoli last month.
Van Dijk said the response was further proof of the side's strong mentality and ability to bounce back from setbacks, although he admitted the finest defence in the Premier League last term was far from their best against Jesse Marsch's men.
The Netherlands captain said: "Well so far we are doing pretty well this season! We shouldn’t forget that after one night where we were a bit disorganised.
"There’s no reason for panic at all, we just need to relax, have a look at what can be better. There is plenty. We will analyse it, and we have another tough game against Leicester on Saturday. But we have to be confident and keep doing what we do.
"We know by now that we never give up. That’s how we are. We stay calm, we know the opportunities we have if we stay calm and composed.
"Today we were 3-0 up, and very comfortable. We put ourselves in a bit of a tricky situation, also because Salzburg is a very good team. But we won, and that’s the most important thing, especially in the Champions League, where not a lot of teams can compete.
"It was a game of two halves, maybe? First half we played so well, we were so comfortable at 3-0 but then we conceded a goal and they started believing.
"We knew before the game that they would never give up anyway, and they kept going, they had a lot of pace and pressing – a bit like we play.
"But we should have done better, especially the first 20 minutes of the second half, all of us. That’s why we conceded the goals. But it’s maybe a good thing. We know we still have to improve, but we will.
"Obviously we don’t want to concede, to allow them back into the game. But we are humans, and sometimes it happens.
"They kept going, and they have a lot of individual quality. It’s not only that we are poor. We could have done better, yes, but they have quality which could punish us as well."
Asked to explain the second-half capitulation, Van Dijk talked up Salzburg's direct approach on the counter-attack and felt the hosts afforded Marsch's side too much space to exploit such situations.
However, the £75million centre-back said he and his team-mates would be taking plenty of positives from a result that puts them back on track in their attempts to escape Group E of Europe's premier competition.
"When we played football, we tried to break through them and the last pass got intercepted, then they were very direct," he added.
“When we have the ball, we are a little open. I think the problem was when we lost the ball, there was a lot of space for them to counter, and with the pace they have and the runners they have, that can be dangerous.
"Everyone wants to panic and stress and maybe look for all the negatives, but we shouldn’t! I’m not even looking at the negatives.
"We know we can do better, but we are human beings and we can’t always play the perfect game. We have to grind it out. Today we have the three points and that’s the most important thing."
