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Adam Lallana is determined to help Liverpool take a significant step closer to qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League with victory over FC Basel tonight.

The £23million midfielder is expected to start at St Jakob Park after shining in Saturday’s frustrating derby draw with Everton.

If the Reds can follow up their last-gasp win over Ludogorets on matchday one with another three-point haul in Group B it would ease the pressure on their upcoming back to back fixtures with European champions Real Madrid.

“It was a sucker punch in the last minute against Everton, but we’ve got the chance to put it right,” Lallana said.

“It was great to get off the mark with three points in our first game and two wins from two will be the target…. That would be a fantastic start for us.

“It’s going to be a tough game coming away from home but I think we got valuable experience from the first game and showed great character.

“If we can show that again we’ve got a great chance of getting a good result.”

Basel were hammered 5-1 by Real Madrid in their opening game of the group but Lallana says the Reds shouldn’t read anything into that.

The Swiss champions are top of their domestic league once again and did the double over Chelsea in the Champions League last season.

“You can’t underestimate any team. I found that out from my first game in the Champions League,” he said.

“You have to take them all on merit. We know Real Madrid have got some exceptional players and I heard in that game Basel had a few chances as well so it could have been different.

“Basel had a good run in the competition last year and did well against English opposition.

“We are very aware of what. I remember watching them play Chelsea last year.

“We have studied and analysed them but we feel if we concentrate on ourselves and put in a good performance, keep progressing and getting better, like we feel we have been doing, then we can get the right result.

“We had a good performance at the weekend and we are going in the right direction.”

This is the first European trip of Lallana’s career and the chance to compete at this level is why the 26-year-old was so desperate to make the move to Anfield from Southampton this summer.

“It’s a huge honour for myself and the club to be playing in this competition,” he said. “It’s where this team belongs.

“Everyone was saying to me about the European nights and especially playing for Liverpool and what it means to the club, and the history the club has got in this competition.

“It’s great we got the first win but it will be even better if we can back it up with a good performance and another three points.”

Lallana’s eye-catching display against Everton was his best in a Liverpool shirt to date.

Having battled back from seven weeks out following the knee injury he suffered during the summer tour of America, he believes he’s getting back to peak condition.

“I feel more or less there now,” he said.

“I needed a few games to get going. I knew it was going to be tough but I am just delighted to be back playing for such a fantastic club.

“I’ve got a lot of minutes under my belt in the last two to three weeks and I’m relishing the opportunity to play more games.

“Being involved in a competition like this is what I dreamt about as a kid.”