Virgil van Dijk reacts after Liverpool's 3-1 win at AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday night

Virgil van Dijk celebrates putting Liverpool in front for the first time in their 3-1 victory over AC Milan in the San Siro(Image: Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Virgil van Dijk has stressed the importance of staying level-headed after Liverpool bounced back from a shock defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday with a convincing 3-1 win at AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Callum Hudson-Odoi's winning goal secured the visitors' first win at Anfield since 1959.

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That surprise defeat, however, was quickly followed up by a much-improved display in Milan as goals from Ibrahima Konate, Van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai cancelled out Christian Pulisic's third-minute opener.

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Asked if the result was the perfect response to the reverse to Forest, Van Dijk, who is set to lead Liverpool out in this Saturday's Premier League home clash with Bournemouth, said: "Well, not after three minutes!

The only influence we have is what we do on the pitch.

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"You saw the reaction tonight and when you play the way we want to play instead of running around a lot, looking like we have absolutely no plan - like we did especially as we did for the last half an hour - then you can play for another hour and you won't score.

"We have to - and I said it after the game - we have to stay calm and focus on our targets but going back to that game, losing at home to Forest, no disrespect to them, just us losing at home is a reality check and a shock.

So today was a good reaction and now it is recovery, go home and Saturday is a big one.

"Of course that is pretty obvious (you need patience under a new manager) but in football you have to deliver today and tomorrow and if you don't then the pressure can pile up from the outside but we have to stay calm.

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"Obviously I have a big role in that, the manager has a big role in that and we as players have to show it on the pitch.

On to many more."

Ibrahima Konate celebrates after scoring Liverpool's equalizer at the San Siro

The turnaround came thanks to first-half headers from Konate and Van Dijk, who steered home dead-ball deliveries from Alexander-Arnold and Kostas Tsimikas respectively before the break, and the Reds skipper talked up the importance of set-pieces at Anfield.

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"We try every game to be important at set-pieces," added Van Dijk, who is set to lead Liverpool out in Saturday's Premier League home clash with Bournemouth.

But today we were there and we can see how important it is because you saw today, Ibou's goal was big, my goal was a big help in order to get going for the second, so it was good."

On the performance of Cody Gakpo, who caught the eye as one of two changes alongside Tsimikas, Van Dijk said: "Last year he played some great games too and I don't think we should forget that, in my opinion.

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"Obviously the last couple of weeks, apart from the national team, I know what he can produce and we all know what he can produce.