Wigan Athletic v Liverpool:ROY HODGSON believes Fernando Torres can maintain the form that devastated Chelsea but has warned that Liverpool may remain reliant upon the striker should the club's new owners decide not to spend in January.
Liverpool head to Wigan tonight seeking a fourth consecutive league win and with their manager adamant he cannot afford to rest the club’s record signing despite recent injuries and the demands ahead. “I believe in David Ngog but it is difficult to put him in ahead of Fernando in a league game when he is fit,” Hodgson said. “It is one of the things we really need to address in the January transfer window.
“In the middle of the field we have a top-table squad, but up front we are definitely short of players and as you saw on Sunday we are very short at the back as well. When Soto (Kyrgiakos) and Glen (Johnson) go down we are throwing a 20-year-old (Martin Kelly) in at the deep end against Chelsea for his senior debut, which you shouldn’t be doing when you have aspirations to be in the top four.” Kyrgiakos, who has tonsillitis, will be missing again tonight.
Hodgson believes Torres will continue to play as well as he did against Chelsea. “I have seen nothing in my working with him that he can only play in the top matches and if it isn’t a top match he doesn’t ‘turn up’,” Hodgson said. “That doesn’t seem to me to be the man I work with every day.
“I believe Torres will play well in all of our games between now and the end of the season. I know he wants to. I know he realises how much we believe in him. I think he is the type of person and character who won’t want to let anyone down.”
Hodgson also claims he has no problems with goalkeeper Jose Reina suggesting he will reassess his position at Anfield at the end of the season. Reports emerged yesterday which suggested the Spain international had said he was staying at the club “until at least the end of the season”.
But Hodgson was not worried by those reported comments. “That is fair enough, what’s wrong with that?” he said.“If he doesn’t want to play for years and years to come we’ll deal with the situation when it occurs.” Guardian Service
