Roy Hodgson felt his side paid the price for their recent exertions as they produced what he described as a 'tired' performance in the 1-1 draw at Wigan.

The Reds had looked set to extend their winning run to five matches when Fernando Torres fired home a brilliant opener on six minutes.

However, the home side recovered to level through Hugo Rodallega, leaving the boss frustrated by his team's second-half showing.

"We didn't deserve to win the game," he told his post-match press conference.

"We looked tired today and I don't think our passing was anywhere near as good as we expected it to be. We had a bright start and a bright finish but for a long period in between we weren't anywhere near where I would expect us to be. I think we can be more than happy with the point we got from the game."

He added: "It was a wonderful piece of play from two outstanding players for our goal. It was a marvellous pass and wonderful finish that put us on the front foot. But we didn't capitalise on that. Even though we had a spell when we were pretty much in control, there were also long periods, especially from the start of the second half, where we just invited Wigan on to us.

"We consistently gave the ball away and as a result they took advantage and equalised. We did better towards the end and were perhaps a little bit unlucky with Steven's (Gerrard) shot that hit the underside of the crossbar, but it would have been harsh on Wigan had we won it."

Asked why he felt his side had failed to produce a similar display to the one that saw off Chelsea, Hodgson added: "I'd put that down to Napoli, Blackburn, Bolton and Chelsea - all with a small squad of players.

"We have five injuries at the moment. We finished the game with Martin Kelly, Jonjo Shelvey and Nathan Eccleston. That's what we have at the moment. Hopefully we will get some players back soon.

"Johnson's not fit. I overestimated his short training session and underestimated what would happen after it the following day, so he wasn't fit.

"Now we have to work hard to get players back in the right physical and mental frame of mind for another tough test at Stoke.

"We knew this game would be difficult because Wigan are not a bad side at all. They haven't had a good start themselves and showed they are a good football team on many occasions this evening."

The boss was also quizzed by journalist about his decision to substitute Raul Meireles at half-time.

Hodgson explained: "He was sick. I don't know how long it will take for him to recover. He felt ill just before the game in the warm up. He wanted to play and got through the first half but at half-time he was sick again, so there was no option."

I'd put that down to Napoli, Blackburn, Bolton and Chelsea - all with a small squad of players.Who was it who said we were unbelievably overstaffed?

Who loaned out Insua for free?

Who loaned Aqualni for free?

Where is Pacheco?

Why was Maxi played out of position?

Why was Raul played out of position?

Why was Kuyt subbed for a snail-paced midfielder?

The out come has nothing to do with tactic deployed?

Aren’t other teams as tired as us?


I feel insulted every time this man speaks on behalf of the only thing I have close to religion. Please take fking responsibility for once for your results

Exactly reduref, I couldn't have put it better myself. Hodgson is too busy justifying what he says and does, always harping on about his experience and the cherry on the cake, he has the gall to refer to what he's won It just makes me cringe, winning the league in some Scandinavian country is such an acchievment.

I know Adamski, how many times have we heard Ferguson or Wenger say they were happy with a draw?

It seems to me he knows he's coaching Liverpool but hasn't realised it yet - I don't know if that makes sense.

I'm really not looking forward to another away game against Stoke, but I suppose if we drop more points, we can only hope that it will be another marker against Hodgson and will speed up his departure.

Blaming the kids?

If he wants to talk about the squad, then where is Babel, Auriolo, Pacheco, Jova etc…they were all rested and could be been used.

Blaming the PL schedule, players, kids etc…give me a break. This is getting to be sad. I can’t even go to bed now…I feel insulted and degraded by the results and post-match comments

Adamski I know we played better against Chelsea, but tbh I wasn't on the turned the corner bandwagon. The reason for this is the fact that the team spent most of the 2nd half defending, Chelsea were playing without Essien, and a half-fit Malouda & Drogba and still Chelsea were unlucky not to score.

Against Wigan, Hodgson could see that Wigan were getting back into the game in the 1st half, so he had time to sort things out during half-time, change the game plan, say the right things to the players to get them back on the right track - but he didn't.

I also wonder why Jova & Pacheco weren't played - 2 attack minded players.

Roy Hodgson pointed to Liverpool's "stretched" squad as the reason behind his side's 1-1 draw against Wigan.
Liverpool struggled to a point after fours wins on the trot. "It was nothing like the performances we've shown in recent weeks and that might be because this was a game too far," said the Liverpool manager.
"Our recent games have put a lot of demands on a fairly small squad with quite a few senior players injured," added Hodgson, whose side lie ninth. With Daniel Agger, Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Glen Johnson injured, Hodgson started with 20-year-old right-back Martin Kelly, while fellow youngsters Jonjo Shelvey and Nathan Eccleston came on as substitutes.

Fernando Torres had put Liverpool ahead early in the first half but Wigan grabbed a deserved second-half equaliser when Hugo Rodallega powered in a shot. "At the moment, we've got a lot of work to do if we are going to be the big club that we want to be and everyone wants us to be," said Hodgson. "I would be lying to our supporters if I said there will not be more games like this where we have to scrap and fight and work hard for our points. "I thought we started well and finished well but I thought there was a long period in between when we were nowhere near as good as we can be. "If you talk about the clear goal chances, perhaps, we could argue we fully deserve what we got but if you think about the actual play itself then we were fortunate to come away with a point."