There have never been any question marks about his ability but he can never be relied upon to be anything close to an ever-present.

Unfortunately Aurelio has got one of those bodies that always seems to struggle with injuries but when available he will always give you a good level of performance.

Hodgson will also be delighted with the 2-0 victory at Rabotnicki as it was a comfortable game despite Liverpool having to field something of a patchwork side.

Liverpool will be one of the favourites to win the Europa League and they should now be able to cruise through in the second leg at Anfield. The game in Macedonia also gave Hodgson the chance to take a look at one or two players such as David Ngog and Lucas to develop more of an opinion on them.

It’s ended up being a busy week off the pitch at Anfield again with the developments regarding a possible Chinese takeover bid of the club. Liverpool fans are all a bit speculative these days as they’ve seen and heard it all before but they’ll be hoping that one of these investment groups succeeds sooner rather than later.

They’ve had the Americans who have generally not been well-liked and things seem to have been set back under their regime.

Hodgson took the job knowing that there might not be investment but both he and the current Liverpool squad know that money does need to be spent on both players and facilities if the club is to compete at the very top again.