Roy Hodgson today confirmed Glen Johnson will have a late fitness test to determine whether he can figure in Liverpool's plans for the trip to Bolton Wanderers.

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The England defender has missed the Reds' last three matches due to a muscle injury and remains doubtful for the journey to the Reebok Stadium.

Johnson will be assessed at Melwood on Saturday, but Hodgson has ruled out Dirk Kuyt and Daniel Agger.

"We've still got the same fitness problems we had going into last week's game," the boss told reporters at Melwood.

"Glen Johnson will have a test tomorrow and still hasn't trained with the team. Dirk Kuyt is making incredible progress, but of course needs longer than the two weeks it's been since he was injured.

"Daniel Agger still hasn't recovered from his calf injury, so they are the three injured players and I doubt they'll be fit for this game."

Liverpool will make the short journey to Lancashire aiming to build upon the morale-boosting 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers last time out, which followed a steadfast performance against Napoli in Italy.

Hodgson is hoping the Reds can now start to gain momentum and climb the Barclays Premier League table with the manager well aware of the need for an unbeaten run in the second quarter of the campaign.

To watch Hodgson's Melwood press conference in full click on the play button below

Asked whether he felt his side had 'turned a corner' following their last two results, the gaffer said: "I don't know. The first quarter hasn't been as good a quarter for us in terms of our league form. We've had a little bit of success in Europe, which I suppose is nice in its way, but it has impacted upon our league form, where we've been anything other than good.

"But it is a quarter of the season and the next three quarters will be very important. I'm hoping the next quarter, which begins at Bolton, will help us move up the table and then we'll see where we are after half a season.

"Hopefully we'll be in a position to kick on from there. At the moment we're still in a poor situation as far as we're concerned in terms of our league position and we need to get a result in every game to get out of it.

He added: "Because of a good win and good result which followed on the back of quite a good performance as well, I am just a bit wary of sitting in front of TV cameras saying the problems are all finished and we've turned a corner.

"Let's wait and see. I believe in the team and I believe we are capable of doing a lot better in the next quarter of the season than we have done in the first."

With no European fixture to contest until next Thursday, Liverpool have had a week to plot for the Bolton clash - and Hodgson is pleased to have had the extra time to prepare.

Questioned about the impact the Europa League schedule has had on his team, he said: "We've used a lot of players, and in the Europa League and Carling Cup matches we've almost changed the complete team in some of the games.

"Even in a lot of the other games, we've played without six or seven players who have played the previous Sunday and will play the Sunday after.

"What impacts a little bit is not having the week's training with the team that you would like.

"This week has been a very nice week because it's a week where you can establish a routine and really set out what you want to work on coming into the game. That is what the European games do to you, they impact upon that side of it."

Liverpool have won each of their last seven fixtures against the Trotters, but Hodgson admits such statistics will have little bearing on Sunday's contest.

"It doesn't have a lot to do with it," he said. "I have a lot of respect for Bolton. They are a very good club and team. They've been successful for a long number of years now.

"We know they are a hard team to beat. They are a very stable Barclays Premier League team today and we'll have to play at our best if we're to get a result there, but that's the name of game. Every match you play is difficult, so it's nothing new."

Meanwhile, Hodgson was asked for his reaction to the news New England Sports Ventures principal owner John Henry had earlier today rejected the idea that Liverpool would allow any of their top stars to leave the club in January.

He said: "The statement is very self explanatory. It is our policy totally. There is no way we are interested in letting any of our players go in January, unless they are not featuring in the first team or they are players who need to move on to get first-team football.

"But for the players we are counting on to help us have a good season, there is no way any of those would even be considered for transfer in January.

"The club's intention is to build around the good players we have and add players to that to make us strong, that's what excites us all here.

"I was very pleased to see the owners so quickly react to it (speculation) and to reassure the fans this is not a selling club, this is a buying club and that we will strengthen, we will get better and we will use the transfer window.

"I think it's also very wise of them not to make bold promises for the January transfer window because sometimes in January you cannot get the level of players we need, but we will be looking. If the players are there, I'm sure the owners will back us and help us get them."

With the start of the January transfer window a little over two months away, Hodgson confirmed the Reds are already working hard to determine how they can bolster their ranks.

He stated: "Rarely a day goes by without me sitting down and thinking about what we would like to possibly do, which areas of the team we would like to strengthen, what type of players we would like for those positions and what players are out there here in England and Europe that would fit the profile.

"So in that respect, we do an awful lot of work and we're doing a lot of scouting at the moment. We're watching a lot of games. I don't just mean our scouting staff, I mean myself, Mike Kelly and Sammy Lee - we are watching at least a couple of games a week, sometimes more, to find out as much as we can about possible transfer targets.

"But that's another thing from actually targeting someone and saying we know we will make a bid for 'X' in January. If someone said to me is there a player you know you will make a bid for in January then the answer is no.

"There are a lot of people we are tracking and hopefully if all goes well and the owners decide that money is available to strengthen the team and these players were available then maybe we will be going after one or two of them."

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