England boss Roy Hodgson endured a disastrous day at Liverpool on Sunday, losing one player - and maybe three more - for crucial World Cup qualifiers, and also suffering an apparent snub at his former club.
Hodgson was unhappy upon his arrival at Anfield to discover he had not been offered the courtesy of a ticket to the directors' lounge, as would be customary for an England manager.
He was then less than impressed to discover his seat for the game was in a row he believed was reserved for scouts rather than in the main area of the directors' box.
Liverpool later claimed this was not the case and Fabio Capello had sat in exactly the same place when he visited Anfield.
However, they acknowledged a ticketing mistake, which a club official apologised to Hodgson directly for at half-time.
Evidently though, this did not appease the Three Lions chief, who opted to sit on his own in the main entrance area at half-time, then revised his post-match plan of meeting assistant Gary Neville, who had been commentating on the game, to leave five minutes early and head straight to St George's Park.
Clearly annoyed at what could be interpreted as disrespectful treatment towards the England manager, Hodgson did not wish to hang around for fear of what he might say to Liverpool staff.
His mood on the drive to Burton would not have been helped by a succession of injury problems that will hit plans to face Moldova and Ukraine in the coming days.
Wayne Rooney is definitely out after suffering a nasty gash to his head in an accidental training ground collision with Phil Jones on Saturday.
"It is bad," said Manchester United manager David Moyes.
Source: PA
