Roy Hodgson happy and relieved to see Liverpool FC progress

03 December 2010 06:15
LIVERPOOL manager Roy Hodgson praised his players after they secured passage to the last 32 of the Europa League as Group K winners - with a match to go - thanks to a 1-1 draw against Steaua Bucharest.[LNB]Hodgson left eight first-team players at home - either injured or rested - but his weakened side did enough to secure a draw even after Milan Jovanovic's first-half header was cancelled out after goalkeeper Jose Reina allowed Eder Bonfim's effort to squirm from his grasp.[LNB]A 3-3 draw between Utrecht and Napoli meant Liverpool cannot be caught at the top of the group with a match to spare.[LNB]Hodgson admitted afterwards that he was slightly worried how his under-strength team, many lacking match practice, would cope.[LNB] 'I'm very happy and happy most of all that the team we had confidence in to take on this tough task of playing Steaua away were able to produce the performance and get the result we needed,' said Hodgson.[LNB]'We always knew it was going to be tough because it was a bit of a last chance for Steaua to qualify so I was a little bit concerned with my team selection but the players served the club well and stuck at our task very well.[LNB]'I asked a lot of them; asking that team with so many players who had not played for a long time - Joe Cole, Fabio Aurelio, Ryan Babel - and players like Danny Wilson, Dani Pacheco and Jonjo Shelvey who hardly play in the first team.

Source: Liverpool_Echo