Xherdan Shaqiri insists he can handle whatever comes his way in Liverpool's Champions League double-header with Red Star Belgrade.

The Switzerland international relished his role in Saturday's 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town and is now targeting a first European start for the club.

Red Star fans are banned from Anfield on Wednesday night but Shaqiri is guaranteed a hot reception for the return game in Belgrade in a fortnight.

The 27-year-old was fined by FIFA for his controversial goal celebration against Serbia during the World Cup. He put his hands together to form a double-headed eagle which symbolises the Albanian flag.

Shaqiri was born in the former Yugoslavia to Kosovan-Albanian parents. Kosovo declared independence in 2008 but Serbia refuses to recognise it as a state and relations between the two countries have been tense.

When the draw was made, Red Star general director Zvezdan Terzic claimed that Shaqiri would be under “unbelievable psychological pressure” when the clubs met because of his background, but the player himself is relaxed about the prospect.

(Image: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Asked if he was worried about being targeted, Shaqiri said: “No, nothing. It’s just a normal game and I will treat it like a normal game.

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“Of course maybe there are going to be some people who will whistle at me. But I treat every game the same.

“In the end, it’s just a football game. It’s an important game too and we want to win it. Sport is not politics.”

Shaqiri earned a recall in midfield against Huddersfield and made a crucial contribution as he created the winner for Mohamed Salah.

He has taken on board what Jurgen Klopp has asked from him in terms of work rate off the ball.

“I wanted to give a good performance back to the coach because he gave me the chance to play from the beginning,” he said.

“I played the last 10 to 15 minutes against Chelsea in that same role. It’s an interesting position. You can see I don’t often play this position. Maybe I have more of the ball in this position.

“We got our goal, it was a good pass and a good finish. I felt good and I just want to keep it going. I’m really happy to be here.

Liverpool 1 Huddersfied Town 0: Player Ratings

“Every player has defensive responsibilities. Of course I’m better offensively, but we all have to work defensively too.

“That’s the most important things to defend as a team altogether. We defend as a team. When you defend well, you always have a chance to score and win the game.”

Liverpool rode their luck at times but restricted Huddersfield to few clear cut chances as they kept a sixth clean sheet in nine league matches.

“We had a lot of opportunities to score more goals. Eight or 10 times when it came to making the final pass, we could have done better,” Shaqiri added.

“Maybe we can do better offensively. But defensively, it’s always good for the team to go away with a clean sheet.

“Every defender was very good. Dejan (Lovren) and Joe (Gomez) were very good in the air. They had a big striker in there and they are good with long balls.

“I knew it was going to be a tough. Huddersfield are struggling at the moment, but I played here with Stoke and it’s a tough place to play.

“It was not the best football we have played, but we got three points and that was the most important thing. Top teams have to win games like this. You cannot always play good football.”

(Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Klopp, who was fuming with some of the Reds' sloppy mistakes, left his players in no doubt that he expects a big improvement against Red Star on Wednesday night.

"Of course, he is very emotional," Shaqiri added.

"He wants the best from you and always that you give 100%. If he sees something that is not 100% normal then he will shout - and he did!

“That’s normal. Everything was not perfect like he wanted it to be.

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“In the end, we won the game and that was the most important thing. Of course, we have to analyse to see what was good and what was not good. But I’m really proud that we had another clean sheet. That’s very positive.

"I think we don’t have a lot of time to recover. The next game is coming and we go again.”