Roy Desperate To Sign Striking Partner For Torres

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has spoken of the club's need for a striker ahead of talks with new owner John Henry next week. New England Sports Ventures' principal owner will fly to England in the coming days and remain in the country to attend Liverpool's clash with Chelsea at Anfield next Sunday. But the primary purpose his visit is to hold talks with the Kop boss over potential targets for the January transfer window and top of Hodgson's agenda is providing support for Fernando Torres in the Reds' front line. Despite claiming in September that his squad was currently overstaffed, Hodgson claims that Liverpool are still lacking firepower and claimed that Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt were 'non-specialists', despite the Dutch duo arriving at the club as natural strikers. He said: "That's clearly not enough. A club like Liverpool shouldn't have to rely on non- specialists like Dirk Kuyt or Ryan Babel ;doing a job; up front when they are primarily wide players. "We have the same problem with the reserves. We don't have any strikers and a winger called Nathan Eccleston has to play up front. "'In training, I can't have practice games where each team plays a 4-4-2 because I don't have the front players to do that. Liverpool have been linked with various goal poachers in recent weeks, including Roma's Mirko Vucinic and Athletic Bilbao hit man Fernando Llorente, and Hodgson is hopeful that he can capture three players who will bolster his ranks when the market reopens. He added: "There is more chance of a striker coming in this window because we had no money last time. Everything was so convoluted with the ownership issue. "The first thing people say when I walk down the street is 'We need a front player'. They can't all be wrong and we aren't that stupid either."