Liverpool came off their first back to back defeats of the campaign with a pair of 2-1 reversals to first Manchester City and then Chelsea saw them drop off top spot on Christmas Day to fifth going into the midweek meeting with the Tigers. Three points on Wednesday saw Brendan Rodgers side leapfrog local rivals Everton back into fourth place – something Agger believes will be vital when the points are tallied up in May.
The big Dane, who opened the scoring with a towering header midway through the first half, wore the armband until Steven Gerrard was introduced during the second period and he was happy to see his side get back to winning ways. “For a defender, a clean sheet is important” enthused Agger, who continued “It wasn’t our best performance, but if we can win and get three points without playing at our best, that’s important – especially in the long run.”
Jordan Henderson, who completed 90-minutes on Sunday despite picking up a knock against Chelsea, was quick to echo those sentiments. “It was important to get the year off to a good start. The most important thing was getting the three points and we got that,” said the Reds midfielder. “It was important to get back to winning ways. Maybe we didn’t play as well as we have done in certain games when we have won by four or five but we showed we can grind a result out when we’re not at our best.”
