The relief felt by Liverpool fans at Torres and Gerrard staying put is echoed by Hodgson, who admits his efforts at getting his feet under the table at Anfield have been greatly aided by the pair’s decision.

“When you are offered a new job you hope that you are not going to start with a total rebuilding job on your hands when all of the famous players and important players have disappeared,” he says.

“Being given a blank canvas to start again is not the ideal situation at all.

“In Liverpool the three major names over the past few days are Reina, Gerrard and Torres. There’s no question of that. Then there is Carragher and lots of other players too.

“You want to come in with those people there with the hope that you can even add one or two around them to make their job easier and the squad stronger.

“You don’t want to go to a new club needing players to make the squad stronger and replace the major cogs in your wheel.

“I have to say the work that I have been doing here has been done in splendid ignorance of those facts and long may that continue.

“Sometimes you are better off doing your job not knowing the outside world is saying you are fantastic or useless, as it might start affecting you.”

With tonight’s game Liverpool’s final fixture ahead of the Premier League season, Hodgson is likely to field an almost full-strength team.

Cole will make his first competitive bow since arriving on a free transfer from Chelsea, while Milan Jovanovic should also make his Anfield debut.

And although Mascherano has not been included in the 25-man UEFA squad for this tie, fellow Argentina international Maxi Rodriguez could make his first appearance of the summer on the right flank.

PROBABLE TEAMS:

LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1): Cavalieri; Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger; Lucas, Gerrard; Rodriguez, Cole, Jovanovic; Ngog.

FK RABOTNICKI (4-3-3): Bogatinov; Dimonski, Fernando, Belica, Sekulovski; Tunevski, Gilgorov, Todorovski; Ze Carlos, Vandair, Fabio.