Hodgson: Reds written off too soon

LIVERPOOL manager Roy Hodgson believes his team have been tainted by two matches which have done “untold damage” but insists their recent improvement shows they were written off too early.

After Saturday’s comfortable win at Anfield against West Ham, Hodgson said: “There are two games this year which have done us untold damage,” Hodgson said. “The first was when a total reserve team – although it does not seem to have been noticed we had 14 first-team players who didn’t play – lost to Northampton in the Carling Cup. The other was the disastrous (2-1) defeat to Blackpool at the end of a three-match week when we played in Europe.

“Those two defeats were costly for us because they encouraged people to make bold conclusions but we’ve had one defeat in eight (in all competitions).