“There are a lot of factors I don’t want to be drawn on too much, but it’s not easy to defend his actions because professionals are paid to play and when called upon to do so, they should,” said Hodgson.

“But it’s a complicated situation to be fair to him. I had the situation at Blackburn when someone was very agitated when I first went there. Graeme Le Saux was determined to go to Chelsea and that caused us problems.

“Then Tim Sherwood was wanted by Tottenham and that caused problems because he was determined to get back to London. So this situation can occur unfortunately and you have to live with it.

“That’s why we (managers) have to be forgiven for getting irritated when agents stir things even more.

“It’s bad enough when there’s a genuine offer that leaves a problem to resolve. I don’t think players mean it as a challenge to your authority or the club’s.

“But it’s a selfish situation where they want to do something and then expect the club and me, in my position as one of the leaders of the club, to bow down and accept they are going to get their way.

“Players must also understand when you sign contracts, you do so to play.”

Pepe Reina, meanwhile, believes Liverpool delivered the perfect riposte to their critics when coming from behind to beat Trabzonspor on Thursday night and the influential goalkeeper hopes it is a sign of things to come.

“It was good because we showed character in the second half,” said Reina. “We knew the crowd and the stadium would make it difficult but, by the way, they were a decent team.

“We knew we could have some problems coming out here.”