Hodgson Targets Goals

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson is targeting more goals from his side on their travels as he looks to push on up the league.

After a poor start to the campaign, Hodgson's side currently sit in ninth in the table with 19 points from their opening 14 games.

But the Reds have taken just five points from their seven games on the road, scoring just four goals and conceding 11, although six of those were shipped at Manchester City and United.

Hodgson is now looking for more goals from his side on the road as they prepare to face Spurs at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

The Liverpool boss said: "Goalscoring is what it is down to. We haven't scored enough goals away from home or created enough goalscoring chances.

"There have been occasions where we have played too much football in front of the opposing defence, not got behind them enough or not got enough bodies into the box.

"This is something we work on all the time and are attempting to rectify.

"But I think you need to keep faith in your plan full stop when it comes to how the team defends and attacks, which the team work on every day.

"The principles which I have seen already this season on several occasions, when things are working for us, can make us look like quite a good football team.

"Defensively, most of the time we haven't done that badly. We conceded three at Manchester City in a fairly poor performance and three at Manchester United where we were somewhat unlucky.

"Take those six goals out of the equation and we haven't been leaking goals away from home but we haven't been scoring enough either."

Hodgson's position came under intense speculation after the Reds were left in the relegation zone, with just six points from their opening eight games.

But Hodgson's side have since taken 13 points from their last six outings and the Liverpool boss wants his players to kick on.

He added: "I think Liverpool will always be harshly looked at, it is part and parcel of being at the club.

"The traditions of the club and the expectations to do well are always going to be very high.

"As a result I don't complain about harsh treatment. People want so much and every defeat becomes a private occasion for grief and we just have to accept that.

"But it is quite nice to be in the situation where, having done well in the last six games and taken 13 points, we have hauled ourselves up into a good position.

"A couple of good results between now and Christmas could see us at the turnaround period after 19 games in a quite decent position, which was about the most I could hope for after taking so few points from the first seven games.

"We took so few points (six) from the first eight games that the scenario at Christmas looked like being pretty disastrous.

"If we can get ourselves into a situation going into the New Year where we are not looking at a disaster scenario then I am hoping we will kick on and have a better second half of the season."