Instead, it was Grasshopper who came closest shortly before half-time when Steven Zuber dashed to the byline and cut the ball back for Toko, whose close-range effort was well blocked by Diego Cavalieri.
While Grasshopper changed their entire outfield team at half-time, Hodgson restricted himself to replacing Cavalieri with Peter Gulacsi, the Hungarian under-21 international an impressive performer during the training camp at Bad Ragaz.
In front of a small but boisterous crowd at the picturesque Stadion Herti, Academy products David Amoo, Steve Irwin, Thomas Ince, Viktor Pallson and Lauri Della Valle all enjoyed their first taste of action at this level. Last night was also the first sight in a Liverpool shirt of Jonjo Shelvey, the highly-rated young midfielder signed from Charlton Athletic towards the end of last season.
Rangy, energetic and with promising distribution, it's easy to see the comparisons to a young Steven Gerrard.
The second half lacked the intensity of the first, but such was Grasshopper's desire to gain a notable scalp that substitute Ermir Lenjani was rightly booked for his attempts to win a penalty.
A draw, though, was a fair and commendable result. Belatedly, the Hodgson era is now underway.
