Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson feels vindicated in his decision to rest players after a fringe Reds side secured a comfortable 4-1 victory over Steaua Bucharest in the Europa League.
The Reds secured three points in Group K at Anfield thanks to a brace from David Ngog, a Lucas Leiva thunderbolt and Joe Cole's first strike for the club.
And Hodgson, who is looking ahead to the mega-clash with Manchester United on Sunday in the Premier League, praised those players called upon to fill in front of the Kop on Thursday evening.
"I was delighted that those who stepped in ensured we still had the right result," Hodgson said, as quoted by Press Association Sport.
"I think it is important you make decisions and make them for the right reasons. I had no doubt that, given the fact we have so many players who play international football, this was the moment to give them a rest and allow them to prepare properly for Sunday's game.
"The ones who came in did a good job and got a good result and in my opinion the decision would have been just as valid even if we had not got a good result.
"They made us work hard to contain them but even in that period Joe showed some good touches. I'll start thinking about the weekend come tomorrow. I'll just enjoy the victory tonight."
Ngog has impressed this season, bagging six goals in just seven appearances for Liverpool, and Hodgson reserved special praise for the burgeoning 21-year-old talent, whilst also lauding a top performance from Cole.
"I thought Ngog's confidence grew after the penalty but I don't think he looked that confident in the first half," added the Reds boss.
"But certainly his confidence grew the longer the game went and we had so much possession in the second half that for forwards it is good when you have that much dominance in the midfield.
"It was nice for Joe Cole to get his first goal for the club, I thought he was lively. We substituted Lucas because we wanted to make certain we shored up the midfield and to give Ryan Babel a rest - the decision was made for defensive rather than offensive reasons, it is just a coincidence Lucas scored a great goal."
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