Southampton's Virgil van Dijk proves to fans he is back on the mend

Southampton's in-demand defender Virgil van Dijk took to Instagram to show fans the extent of his progress in recovering from injury.

It is still unclear as to when (if) van Dijk will return to first team action for Southampton after picking up an ankle injury thanks to Leicester City's Jamie Vardy in Saints' 3-0 win.

While van Dijk has been sidelined with injury, Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens have deputised as Southampton's two starting centre-halves in the Dutchman's absence. However, this makeshift pairing have conceded 18 goals in eight matches as the defence looks less assured without his towering presence.

We embedded the video for you, so you don't have to look at the depressing "Come to Chelsea" and "Come to Liverpool" comments for yourself.

Here's hoping we will see van Dijk pull on the Saints shirt once again. With eight weeks remaining in this 2016/17 Premier League campaign, that could be unlikely with van Dijk heavily linked to the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool.