Hodgson unhappy with Johnson form

(GSM) – Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has blasted Glen Johnson for his below-par performances this season.

Hodgson insists the injury-plagued England right-back is not playing at his best while lavishing praise on the 26-year-old’s young replacement Martin Kelly.

Hodgson said: “He’s the England right-back and, if he plays like that, one would expect him to come back in when he’s fit. But then he’d have to play like the England right-back and up to now, to be quite frank, he’s not performed – very often at least – to the level I’d expect of him.

“You would have to ask him ‘do you think you’re playing at top form and are you playing like the best right-back in the country for your club?’ If he says yes, obviously we will have to agree to differ and if he says no, then you’d have to ask the question ‘why not?”’

Johnson has been ruled out of Saturday’s Premier League game at Stoke City with a groin injury, giving Kelly another chance to fill-in for the former Portsmouth full-back.