Hodgson apologises for misleading fans

Roy Hodgson has apologised to fans for not playing star striker Fernando Torres in Liverpool’s 0-0 Europa League draw with Utrecht.

Hodgson had said that Torres and first-choice goalkeeper Pepe Reina would both play in the dead rubber against Utrecht, but neither player featured in the lacklustre draw at Anfield on Wednesday.

A near-capacity crowd of 38,000 was on hand to see Torres after Liverpool gave away free tickets to children, but Hodgson said he had been convinced to rest the Spanish ace.

“With discussions with the conditioning people in particular they persuaded me to see the error of my ways even though I had this vision of Fernando going out there and having a great 45 minutes and maybe scoring a goal and giving him a lift,” Hodgson said.

“He was quite looking forward to playing but when I got back to the club in the afternoon (after his press conference) and started to talk about it again, it seemed to me the potential disadvantages far outweighed the potential advantages.”

“I didn’t mean to mislead you. The physical conditioning people said to me that in any game there is a risk of injury.”

Hodgson said he was frustrated his second-string side could not find a way through the Utrecht defence.

“I think we are all a bit disappointed by the game. It wasn’t for want of trying. The problem is we lacked the technical quality in the final third,” Hodgson said.

“I was hoping, with so many people in tonight – and some for the first time – we would produce a sparkling performance, but unfortunately we couldn’t.”

Utrecht boss Ton du Chatinier was proud of his side, but was left counting the cost after top scorer Ricky van Wolfswinkel suffered a suspected broken collarbone.

“It was said this was Liverpool B players but we still see them as part of the top league,” du Chatinier said.

“We set out to play a good game and come away without any injuries but Ricky van Wolfswinkel has gone to hospital and it is a possibility they may have to operate on him here. He could be out for six, seven or eight weeks.”