Hodgson hits back at Fergie's Torres slur

Roy Hodgson has taken the gloves off as he battles to restore his bruised reputation.

The under-fire Liverpool manager went on the offensive yesterday, as he finally fought back against some serious, if mischievous, allegations from Sir Alex Ferguson, by branding Fernando Torres a cheat.

And in a combative performance in front of the media, the Reds boss also insisted that even if he brought his current problems on himself with a naive Carling Cup team selection in midweek, he will turn things around at Anfield.

Ferguson’s outburst following Manchester United’s defeat of Liverpool last weekend went completely unchecked by Hodgson, and he yesterday admitted that was a mistake, because his silence not only angered Liverpool fans, but unfairly sullied Torres’ reputation.

As he faced a weekend which could see Liverpool join Everton in the bottom three, Hodgson said: “Possibly I’m learning as I go along and maybe I should have said something there and then, because Fernando is not a cheat.

“Listen, Alex is a good friend of mine and knows how to use the media - and he’s used it very well there. He might have used it to deflect from Nani who, in our opinion, was playing for fouls.

“Fernando has proved his honesty time and again. He is a very respected player, who’s strong, takes players on and isn’t easy to stop.

“I don’t think anybody thinks that was not a foul on the edge of the box. There is no danger of us cheating, and that’s why I didn’t think it was necessary to respond - it was insulting people’s intelligence.

“It was one of Alex’s inflammatory little digs to make his victory even sweeter and our defeat even harder.”

Hodgson though, has discovered that silence is not always the best policy at Anfield, especially after the week from hell where defeat by bitter rivals United was followed by a humiliating loss to League Two Northampton.

Yesterday, he again accepted responsibility for that shambolic display against tiny opposition, which has caused so much unrest among an Anfield support already agitated by off-field events at the club.

But the new boss is expecting his team to put it right against Sunderland this afternoon, in a game which has taken on huge importance in the context of Liverpool’s season.

Hodgson will axe all 11 players who appeared in midweek, and he believes his first-choice side will accept responsibility for getting the Reds back on course for their stated aim this season - a top-four finish.

“We are living through a moment of my own making you could say. I’ve told the players it was a bad moment for the club which was of my making,” he said.

“The day after the game, we had a training session with 13 players who didn’t play, and I told them it was my making because I took a team that underperformed and lost but it had nothing to do with them.

“I said they couldn’t take responsibility because they weren’t even on the bench. Why should the pressure transfer onto them?

“Wednesday had nothing to do with those who will play Sunderland and I don’t think their confidence will change one iota.

“I can understand the criticism about the depth of the squad, because we lost the game and people will make conclusions.

“Maybe it was a good learning process for me as well because seeing them in training and seeing them in matches is two different things.

“But I had learned already in the two or three months that it’s a big job and there are still a lot of things to do.”

Hodgson will hope that by bringing in 11 fresh players his side can improve on a dismal league record that has seen them win just once so far this season.

Torres will return to lead the line, as he reverts to the side that played at Old Trafford, though Dirk Kuyt could still figure after returning from a shoulder injury.