Glen Johnson calls for perspective over Liverpool FC’s “awful” form

Nov 11 2009 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL right-back Glen Johnson has pulled out of the England squad to face Brazil on Saturday after picking up a slight injury in his club’s Barclays Premier League draw against Birmingham.

The 25-year-old played the full 90 minutes at Anfield on Monday before joining up with his international team-mates the yesterday, where he underwent a routine recovery session while the rest of Fabio Capello’s squad trained at Arsenal’s London Colney complex.

It was during this session that his knock became apparent and he will now return to his club for treatment, with Capello at this stage not planning to call up another player for the trip to Qatar to face Dunga’s team.

It leaves Wes Brown as the only out-and-out right-back left, although James Milner or Shaun Wright-Phillips could drop back from midfield.

David Beckham is unavailable due to Major League Soccer commitments in America but Capello’s other 22 players from his original squad all trained ahead of the friendly in Doha.

Meanwhile, Johnson admits Liverpool are in “awful” form – but believes their current malaise is being blown out of proportion.

The controversial 2-2 draw meant Liverpool have won only one of their last nine games, a spell during which they have slipped out of the Carling Cup and moved to the brink of Champions League elimination.

Rafael Benitez’s side are also down in seventh place in the Premier League with their hopes of another title challenge seemingly over given the 11-point gap to leaders Chelsea.

And Johnson said: “The record sounds awful and it is awful for a club like Liverpool. But things like this happen in football. You stick together and keep fighting.

“We have seen in the league that everyone can beat everyone; if someone had told you at the start of the season that we’d win one in nine, you’d have laughed your head off. We will just look to get as many points as we can as quickly as possible then have a look at the end of the season.