Hodgson demands reaction from Reds

LIVERPOOL manager Roy Hodgson admits some players will have to work hard to repair their damaged reputations after being culpable in the team’s embarrassing Carling Cup exit on Wednesday night.

There will be no knee-jerk reaction, however, and all those who featured in the defeat to Northampton at Anfield will get a chance to redeem themselves. The Reds, record seven-time winners of the competition in its various guises, crashed out on penalties to the League Two side.

It was the first time the Merseysiders had lost to a fourth-tier team in the League Cup and was their worst result since an FA Cup third-round defeat against non-league Worcester City in 1959. Hodgson made 11 changes from the weekend’s reverse at Manchester United and had he put out a full reserve side then the result could have been anticipated.