Hodgson defends 'diabolical' Torres

Torres was once again a peripheral figure as Liverpool were fortunate to escape with a point - Jos Reina produced two outstanding first-half saves, to deny Cameron Jerome and Craig Gardner.

The Spain international, who was so disappointing at the World Cup in the summer following a season with Liverpool that was blighted by groin and knee injuries, looked uninterested for long periods and failed to produce a meaningful effort on goal until the 64th minute. His performance was so woeful before half-time that it prompted the former Liverpool midfielder and now Sky pundit Jamie Redknapp to call the 26-year-old's contributiosn "diabolical" and "terrible" and to question whether the forward wanted to play in the match.