Roy Hodgson expects his Liverpool team to build on our first Premier League victory of the season as the men from Anfield travel to St Andrews this Sunday.
Liverpool’s senior 21 man squad has been cut down to 18 with Kuyt and Aurelio missing through injury and Joe Cole serving the final game of his suspension.
Speaking to the official site Roy said:
“We realise that every time we go onto the field as Liverpool Football Club we have a duty to perform and a duty to win.
“My job is to prepare the players and focus the players and then it’s their job to go onto the field and be the players they are. We’ve got players here who are world famous and what they need to do is bring that skill which has made them world famous onto the field week after week. If we do that then you become a winning team. If we don’t then you have problems.
“It’s been a strange start for us because I think the first game was probably the best of all. We didn’t get the three points against Arsenal, but to get a point with ten men and to play as well as we did was a magnificent start. Then the Man City game came along when we didn’t play as well and got well beaten. That defeat soured the mood a bit so it was good to get back and win against West Brom, albeit I don’t think we played as well as against Arsenal.
“We played a team who were better than most people gave them credit for. They weren’t bad at all on the day and played well. We worked hard and stuck at our task and if you are going to have a good season then you have to get your points that way sometimes. It’s not often going to be easy in the sense you go out there, score early, dominate the game and it’s a comfortable win. In a 38 game season you can count those games on the fingers of one hand. Usually victories have to be hard fought, battled for and scrapped for, so I was delighted we were able to do that.”
“We know Birmingham had a good season last year. They are a well drilled team who have been together for a long time and know what they’re doing. Away games in the league are always difficult but if we can get all of our players back and fit then I’m hoping we’ll get better with every game and get a result.
Earlier in the day Roy had stressed the important of avoiding looking at the league table too early, instead insisting he will pay attention when a quarter of the season is gone.
“I think tables are of no interest until at least ten games have been played. Then you start looking to see how big a gap there is between yourself and the top teams or between yourself and the bottom teams. I don’t think you worry about that after three games.
Liverpool’s game against Birmingham kicks off at 4pm on Sunday.
Travel Advice
There are extensive road closures in the Birmingham area on Sunday that travelling fans should be aware of, a combination of railway works and the SkyRide event taking place between 10am and 4pm.
