Van Dijk: Learning fast at Southampton

REUTERS – Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk believes he has learnt more at Southampton since his arrival at the Premier League club last month than he did in his two-year stint with Celtic prior to the move.

Van Dijk made the switch to the Saints from Scottish champions Celtic on deadline day, and has been in impressive form, helping his side keep two clean sheets and scoring his first goal for the club in his five matches so far.

The 24-year-old Dutchman has also earned his first call up to the national side and is expected to feature as Danny Blind’s men go into must-win Euro 2016 qualifiers against Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic.

“At Southampton I am learning so much in every game I play, much more than I did in two years at Celtic,” Van Dijk told the British media.

“I feel I have started quite well. I’ve played five games and it has been tough. The standard is much quicker than in Scotland.

“The ball is like a pinball machine. You have to concentrate. It took me some time to get used to it but I’m doing all right now,” he added.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)