According to Saints current Captain Steven Davis, Virgil Van Dijk has pledged to give his all for Saints whilst at the club. But that should not stop the crowd giving a hostile reception on Saturday, just not to Van Dijk.
Virgil Van Dijk has been slowly re integrated back into the first team picture by Mauricio Pellegrino, but many supporters remain sceptical about his commitment to the club, indeed at Crystal Palace on Saturday around half the travelling support gave him a frosty reception when he came on the pitch.
For those not there the Virgil Van Dijk song was belted out, but the words had changed slightly from last season and it was not complimentary, but the good thing about that was that it sounded more like a warm welcome than a frosty one and those listening on TV probably thought that he had been received well by the Saints fans.
But he overcame two big hurdles at Selhurst Park, firstly he was on the bench and back in the squad and secondly he got on the pitch and played his first minutes in a competitive game since January, the first steps into the fans accepting him back into the fold even if it turns out to be only temporary.
His performance for those 13 minutes was not great, he looked ruty and his timing was way out, he failed to win headers that last season he would have won with ease, but if anyone thought this was through a lack of effort then they were wrong, the people who truly know his commitment are his team mates and it seems they are all behind him on his return.
Steven Davis who has taken on the role of Captain of the team has confired this saying the Dutch defender is now fully focused on Saints.
"It’s been a smooth transition, a lot more has been of it in the media than there has been here, he is determined to give his all and fight for his place"
So it seems that the Saints squad is happy that Virgil Van Dijk is going to give 100% for the team and after all they are the people who know him best, the message is that the team do not want to be distracted from the job ahead on Saturday, the want to concentrate on beating the visitors on home soil for the first time in 14 years and only the second time at St Mary's
But Davis does want a hostile reception at St Mary's on Saturday, just not for Virgil Van Dijk, he wants one created for Manchester United to help the Saints squad to victory.
"Every game in the Premier League, whether it’s against one of the top six or any position in the league, it always has its difficulties. You need to be at your best."
"There’s such fine lines in the Premier League to get results and you just need to go out and get everything right on the day.”
By getting everything right Davis clearly means having the crowd on the teams side from the start and not on it's back or even on the back of individual players, it means having everyone supporting the team.
"It’s great if you can create that hostile atmosphere, It gives the home team such a backing as well, and really pushes them on."
"Not only when you’re winning or when you’re hanging on to the result but whenever you’re trying to get that energy from the crowd. You need that."
"It’s important, though, on both sides of the coin, that the players give the fans energy and on the other side the fans give the players energy and use that.”
The message from Steven Davis to the fans ahead of the United game is clear, St Mary's has had some magical games over the past 16 years where the crowd have got behind the team and created a great atmosphere, but it has also had it's toxic moments, luckily enough few of them have been in the past 8 years.
On Saturday the crowd need to forget Virgil Van Dijk as an individual and see him only as part of a squad trying to do a job, the squad are focused, they do not want distractions.
Personally I want three points from Saturday above all else, no individual is bigger than the club and we should not make that so by concentrating on giving Van Dijk abuse and taking the focus off the job in hand, there is a time and place for letting feelings know, Saturday between 3- 4.55pm is not it.