There were some dark days for Dejan Lovren.

Problems on the field for the Liverpool defender earlier this season were accompanied by a harrowing experience for his young family.

At Wembley last October the Croatia international endured the embarrassment of being taken off just half an hour into the Reds' 4-1 defeat to Tottenham.

Ten days later he was informed after Liverpool's Champions League clash with Maribor at Anfield that his Allerton home had been targeted by thugs.

The three masked men, who tried to smash their way in with a sledgehammer, left empty-handed after being disturbed.

“Unfortunately, my wife was in and two kids. It was horrific,” Lovren said.

“Of course people look at football, they don’t look at what is going on around your life.

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“It is not easy because we are also humans and everyone has problems, I don’t know anyone who hasn’t had some.

“I am giving my best to have a quiet life but sometimes it doesn’t depend on myself because people just want to come into your home and steal some things, even though I have nothing in my home.”

(Image: Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images)

Since that turbulent period, life has been much more settled for Lovren - both on and off the field. His shattered confidence has been repaired.

He has shown real strength of character to play an increasingly key role in Liverpool's pursuit of a top-four finish in the Premier League and Champions League glory.

Written off by some after that Wembley nightmare, he has gone on to clock up 31 appearances already this term. Jurgen Klopp's faith in him is unwavering.

“In those difficult situations, I saw the support from some really good people like the manager, the club, my team-mates and of course the supporters who are ready always to support you,” Lovren said.

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“I said many times I don’t know one player who doesn’t make a mistake, especially a defender and especially how we play at Liverpool.

“We play a really high line, offensive football and sometimes you are one against one against top strikers and top strikers need just one chance. If they score then they will blame you or someone else.

“I had many times these wrong decisions that I made, sometimes I can accept it, sometimes not because football is like that. But in the end it depends on yourself and whether you are ready to move on or not.

“I think I responded quite well even with some different things around my life, burglars and things like that, so it wasn’t quite easy for me, especially back in October.”

Competition for places increased following the January arrival of Virgil van Dijk with Klopp alternating between Lovren and Joel Matip alongside the £75million Dutchman.

However, it's Lovren's partnership with Van Dijk which has looked the most promising. They are expected to get the nod to play together at Old Trafford on Saturday.

“It is the decision of the manager. I am here. I am doing my best job on the training ground and whatever I can do on the pitch when I play,” Lovren said.

“At the end it is his decision. Sometimes you are happy, sometimes you are not, but that is part of football. You need to accept that. When we win everything is good.

(Image: John Walton/PA Wire)

“From my point of view, it is always good to hear some positive things but at the end if the manager chooses someone else then you are disappointed.

“But you know, I think we did quite well, me and Virgil in the last couple of games when we played. We understood each other quite well and hopefully we can do it also in the future like that.”

Liverpool head to Old Trafford having kept five clean sheets in their past seven matches.

Spirits are high after cruising past Porto into the last eight of the Champions League in midweek.

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“It was more of a mental challenge than a physical one,” Lovren added.

“You are 5-0 up and you know you cannot allow that to drop. You need to be serious from the beginning and I think we did it quite well.

“We didn’t do the best game in our season but the most important thing is we are in the quarter-finals and we can concentrate on a big game against Man United.”

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Lovren insists Liverpool will go all out for victory, regardless of how United set up.

“Last time, when they came here, they defended really deep so let’s see what happens now,” he said.

“For them maybe a point will be good but for us, we never play for a point.

"Mourinho has his own plans, it is not our job to know, it is our job to focus on ourselves and play how we want and how we believe we can beat them.

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"We will give our best. We will play like we play every day, attacking football. Let’s enjoy."