Virgil van Dijk has hailed his Liverpool teammates after they secured a 2000th top flight success against Newcastle United.
The Dutchman was absent through Covid but the Reds still eased past the Magpies at Anfield.
Jonjo Shelvey opened the scoring from range before the hosts scored three unanswered goals to remain a point behind league leaders Manchester City.
The win was a significant one for Liverpool as a club, becoming the first English side to win 2000 top flight games.
Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate played at the heart of defence with Van Dijk absent.
After the three points the centre-half took to social media and said: "Well done boys. Frustrated to have recorded a positive test before the game but I will be back strong and ready asap. Stay safe everyone".
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Van Dijk had played in all 16 of Liverpool's games prior to his Covid test.
Jurgen Klopp said on the Covid cases: "We had to make the decision, send the boys home. So there were three players out, two of them would have started obviously today.
"It was, of course, not a reason to cancel the game tonight or to even ask for it, but we will see how it now develops."
The Dutchman missed the majority of last season but has returned to marshal the club's defence once more as Klopp's side look to regain their title.
Liverpool will aim to record a 2001st top flight success when they face Tottenham this weekend.
The Reds head to north London despite calls from some to halt Premier League games for the weekend to stem the spread of Covid.
A host of fixtures have already been cancelled over the past fortnight due to outbreaks at various clubs.
Klopp though doesn't see the benefit in hitting the pause button.
"Stopping the league is probably not the right thing but with the schedule we have to be more flexible," he said.
"So far football kept it pretty much outside with the testing regimes, the massive disciplinary things for the boys did really well, but this time it is really difficult.
"I don't see the massive benefit of it [stopping the Premier League] because we come back {and] it is still the same.
"If the virus will be gone then I am the first that stops and goes home and waits until it is gone. But that is probably not the case, so where's the real benefit of it?
"We hope we can play and Tottenham can play on Sunday."
