JULY 24
Roy hails Spearo impact

By Paul Hassall - LFC Official Website

Roy Hodgson expects Jay Spearing to be a regular member of Liverpool's first-team squad next season after the youngster impressed in Saturday's 1-0 friendly defeat to Kaiserslautern.

The Reds boss was full of praise for his fledgling side after they more than held their own against an experienced German outfit and he was keen to pick out the No. 26 for his impact on the pre-season so far.

"Spearing in particular has done well over the last two games and definitely deserves to be a part of our first-team squad," Hodgson told Liverpoolfc.tv. "I can understand why so many clubs are interested in loaning him. It's the same with Kelly, Eccleston and Amoo. They have all done well.

"It was an outstanding performance from the young lads. I'm disappointed for them because of the way they worked and fought throughout the game. We gave an unfortunate goal away and we got caught out. I expected that to happen more than it actually did.

"I'm a bit frustrated for them because we contained Kaiserslautern so well and I felt we should have done better with the possession we had. It wasn't as good as it should be. These young players are capable of passing it better than they did. But in terms of work rate and desire we can't fault them. It's a good end to the camp."

The young Reds went down to Iilan Micanski's first-half strike but always looked dangerous on the counter attack.

Hodgson felt their performance was worthy of the draw and is confident the majority of those on show will make an impact on the first-team during
2010-11.

"If we'd have drawn 0-0 I don't think anyone could have said we were lucky," he said. "I think they had their work cut out. The shape of our team after just 10 days working together was good and the movement of the likes of Amoo and Ince was also good.

"They are both Academy players, but you'd have thought they'd have been playing in the Bundesliga all their lives. It was the same at the back with Kelly and Ayala. They did a fantastic job.

"Most of these players here will be part of our squad. One or two are exceptionally young, like Jack Robinson and Victor Palsson and maybe they won't be that involved in the first-team squad, but a lot of the others will."

The boss has been pleased with the players' efforts over the course of their Swiss camp and is now looking forward to joining up with the senior members of his squad when they return to Melwood.

"Overall it's been fantastic," he said. "If we'd have got a result in this game it may have been perfect - maybe that's a good thing so that we didn't do too well. We can now realise that even if you do well there is still work for us to do. But again, I couldn't be happier with the way the players have responded to the work.

"We'll see how many seniors we get now. I want a squad of about 25 players and we'll see how many of these are involved in it now."

JULY 24
Narrow defeat for Reds

By James Carroll - LFC Official Website

Milan Jovanovic made his Liverpool debut as the Reds slipped to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Kaiserslautern in Germany on Saturday afternoon.

The Serbia winger was handed his first appearance for the club following his free transfer move from Standard Liege, while there was also a start for Sotirios Kyrgiakos in Roy Hodgson's second game in charge.

Liverpool, sporting their new white away kit, almost made a dream start inside the Fritz Walter Stadion as Kyrgiakos's long ball sent David Ngog through on goal, but the striker dragged wide after cutting inside.

There were also chances for David Amoo and Martin Kelly, while at the other end Adam Nemec fired over Diego Cavalieri's crossbar from 12 yards.

Kaiserslautern took the lead in the 32nd minute as Jiri Bilkey beat Daniel Ayala to the ball before crossing for Iilan Mickanski, who extravagantly flicked home from close range. It was harsh on the young Reds as they had more than matched their hosts.

Hodgson opted to withdraw Jovanovic from the action at the break, but the Reds were unable to trouble Tobias Sippel's goal in the second period.

Kaiserslautern tested Cavalieri on a couple of occasions, although they failed to breach the Brazilian's goal again and were forced to settle for a 1-0 victory.

However, the Reds boss will have been further encouraged by the battling performance of his young stars as they now head back to Melwood to prepare for the Europa League qualifier with FK Rabotnicki.

Thor Zakariassen ©