Liverpool boss denies fall-out with scorer Johnson

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson played down any talk of a fall-out with Glen Johnson after seeing his side move into the top half of the Premier League table.

Johnson has been out with an ankle problem in recent weeks but Hodgson was perceived to have criticised the England defender when he claimed the right back had not performed well this season.

There were reports that Johnson’s relationship with his manager had broken down and he would seek a move in January.

But the defender returned to action in some style in Saturday’s 3-0 win over West Ham, opening the scoring and Hodgson was adamant that his relationship with Johnson is fine.

He said: “Glen profited from the fact he has been obliged to undergo an enforced rest with the injury.

“It’s taken him a while to get over the injury but he’s been fit all week and he’s trained hard all week and he was full of running.

“I had better get people to start a little bit more mischief, with Glen and other players if I can get better performances out of them.

“I’m not interested in storms in a teacup. Glen Johnson is a top class player, we all know that, and it was nice for the fans to see how well he can play.”

The Liverpool manager was pleased with the contribution of Christian Poulsen, who has struggled for form since arriving from Juventus in the summer.

He added: “Christian’s a good player and I’ve felt sorry for him. If you can pay a price for being too honest, I think he has done that.

“In one or two of the games when the team wasn’t playing well and he tried to do a little bit too much and failed and in a performance that was a failure he was deemed a failure.

“But he’s far from that, he’s a good footballer and he’s shown what a good player he is.”

After Johnson opened the scoring, Dirk Kuyt scored with a penalty before Maxi Rodriguez scored Liverpool’s third before half time.

West Ham supporters called for Avram Grant to be sacked but the Hammers manager is adamant he can turn his club around.

They have won just once in 14 Premier League matches this season but Grant is sure he will be given the chance to turn his team around.

He said: “The fans are always right and they came all the way and they want to see a good performance and they saw us playing not so good.

“In the last weeks we have performed well, we were better than the opponents and we didn’t win and today we deserved to lose.

“I’m concentrating on the game and if I can take West Ham to the place that I can take them, that’s what’s important for me. I am concentrating on my job and you can ask me about things I can do, not about others. Even in this situation I’m sure that we can get out of this because I don’t analyse this game.

“If you look at the performances in the last weeks, we will win games if we play like that again.

“The minute I think I can’t do my job I will not be here but even in this situation I can do a good job and take the team forward.”

Grant hopes to have midfielder Scott Parker back for a chest infection for the crucial game against Wigan next weekend.

And the former Portsmouth manager admits that is already a crucial match if his side, currently five points from safety, are to get out of trouble.

He added: “The next game is very important for us. We need to win and even though there are a lot of games before the end of the season, we need to start it now because we’re near the bottom.”