Hodgson: Wembley Our Target Too

ROY HODGSON today spoke of his
burning ambition to give
Liverpool ’s supporters a trip to
Wembley – as he revealed Dirk
Kuyt is on the verge of a shock
comeback.
The Reds kick-off their Carling
Cup campaign against
Northampton tonight and
Hodgson will show how much
emphasis he is placing on the
tournament by naming a strong
team. Milan Jovanovic, Ryan
Babel, Lucas, Daniel Agger and
David Ngog will all start, while
there will be debuts for Danny
Wilson and Brad Jones, as
Hodgson aims to oversee a
smooth passage into the fourth
round draw. And he will go into
the game in high spirits after
learning that Kuyt ’s rehabilitation
is ahead of schedule and could
return from his shoulder injury
next Thursday against his old
club FC Utrecht.
Hodgson’s immediate concern,
though, is dealing with
Northampton and he has
promised Liverpool will be going
all out to secure their first
venture to Wembley since 1996.
“It would be a great honour to
lead Liverpool to Wembley,
absolutely, and we will be doing
our very best to get their this
season, ” said Hodgson.
“There are only two domestic
trophies that you can win every
season and I would love to win
one for Liverpool.
“It’s been brought to my
attention that we haven’t played
at the new Wembley, so you can
guarantee we will take this game
seriously – all the players need to
take responsibility.
“We could end up playing
between 60 and 65 games this
season and though I will make
changes, the players we have
here will make the team I pick a
strong one.
“There will be opportunities for
some young lads; Danny Wilson
and Dani Pacheco up to now
have not featured that much but
they will play.
“Jay Spearing did exceptionally
well last week and deserves
another chance, as does Martin
Kelly. This is one of the games
when we have to rotate ”