Dalglish happy with England

31 March 2011 12:30

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has praised England for their handling of Andy Carroll and Glen Johnson but refused to be drawn into a row with coach Fabio Capello over his £35million striker.

Carroll scored his first international goal in the 1-1 friendly draw with Ghana on Tuesday but much of the pre-match discussion concerned Capello's advice to the former Newcastle forward to concentrate on football and cut out potentially bad drinking habits.

Dalglish brushed aside any potential controversy by reaffirming his belief that the 22-year-old was fully focused on improving himself and his game, and said: "Is that not his job, football? I would expect him to focus on it to get to where he is. He has done fantastically well. I think Andy Carroll is focused on his football."

There has also been some controversy over whether the striker will go to next summer's Under-21 European Championships, and Dalglish added: "We'll wait to see if he is picked first but I can't answer the question until it has happened so I can't see the point in discussing it."

The Reds boss thanked Capello for using Carroll and Johnson sensibly in midweek.

England's last friendly at Wembley in November against France saw Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard sidelined for a month having sustained a hamstring strain after playing longer than the club believed they had agreed he should.

That was under the tenure of former manager Roy Hodgson, who Liverpool will meet on Saturday when they come up against his new club West Brom, but there were no complaints from Dalglish.

"The way England treated our players was fantastic," he said. "They gave Andy the hour knowing it wouldn't have been beneficial to play him any longer.

"They gave Glen 45 minutes because he has a slight problem with an Achilles.

"I though they were very professional and respectful with the way they treated our players."

Source: PA