Liverpool center-back Virgil van Dijk has insisted that his side will continue to fight in the Carabao Cup and beyond this season after Arne Slot's men were narrowly defeated against Tottenham.

"I don't like losing and in the manner we lost today, I think it was unnecessary," Van Dijk told reporters following his side's 1-0 loss at Spurs. "There is an opportunity to make this right in a couple of weeks. Until then, we have to work and fight like we always have been doing throughout the whole season. We have to win games and the first one is Saturday [against Accrington].

"We are going to have more difficult moments — that is a fact. That is the beauty of playing for Liverpool because every game that you play is difficult. The pressure is always on us as players because of the size of the club. That's a good thing and we have to embrace it. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season.

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"We don't listen to the noise from the outside world because before the season started, no one would have thought we would be where we are, so there is no point listening to the outside world. Can it be hard for players to do that? Of course. Social media and media is a big part of people's lives now. I can't control everyone's emotions but I will definitely mention it."

While Lucas Bergvall's goal has given Spurs the lead in the tie, the teams will reconvene at Anfield in just under a month for the second leg. And Van Dijk knows where Liverpool will need to improve when that tie comes around.

"Obviously the result, no one wants to lose," Van Dijk said. "We are still more than it in but I think our performance was at times good and at times not good enough. We have to analyze it again and be better.

"The frustration [around the non-red card for Bergvall] was only on the pitch. After the game, you can't do anything about it anymore. Unfortunately for us, it ended up with him scoring the winner tonight.

"We weren't good enough in possession and we gave balls away to give them momentum. Obviously they felt 100 per cent before the game that they wanted to make things right. We knew that and then you have to find the right passes in the right moment to break on them, and I think we did that at times well."

With Joe Gomez injured, Ibrahima Konate only just back from a few weeks out and Jarell Quansah going off on the half-hour mark through illness, Wataru Endo was required to play alongside Van Dijk for much of the game. And the Japanese midfielder looked at home in an unfamiliar position.

"It is a part of the game," Van Dijk said. "Everyone has to step up. Obviously the whole backline changed except from myself and the players that played did a good job in my opinion. We need everyone at their best and if you only played once or twice then you need rhythm. I think the guys did well.

"On the whole, with the goal we conceded, we are disappointed. We always try to win the game until the last second but a 0-0 to take it back to Liverpool wouldn't have been a bad result. We're in a semi-final, we know how much they would love to win it but I know for a fact that we would love to win it again. And maybe even more."