MOSCOW, November 7 (RIA Novosti) - Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson is confident he can deputize for the injured Glen Johnson at right-back if needs be, he said Wednesday.
The England midfielder could drop in at right-back against Anzhi Makhachkala on Thursday, as the only specialist right-back in the squad is 19-year-old Jon Flanagan.
“I’ve been doing some training during the week, so I think I’m fine. It’s just another position,” Henderson said.
“I’ve played there once or twice before.”
England right-back Johnson returned to training Wednesday but is not included in the squad for the trip to Moscow.
Current and former England internationals Jamie Carragher, Joe Cole and Stewart Downing are among the few senior players in the squad to face Anzhi, who went down to a 1-0 defeat against a strong Liverpool side at Anfield last month.
Captain Steven Gerrard and top-scorer Luis Suarez are among the players left on Merseyside, while Australian Brad Jones is set to stand in for regular goalkeeper Pepe Reina, an injury doubt.
Henderson and coach Brendan Rodgers have said that the absence of captain Gerrard will not affect the team’s morale or focus.
Other missing regulars are on-loan midfielder Nuri Sahin, defenders Jose Enrique and Daniel Agger and injured midfielder Lucas Leiva.
Anzhi’s tough-tackling central midfielders Jucilei and Odil Akhmedov are back from injury after missing the Anfield game, and the Russians will be looking to take the fight to Liverpool on home turf, assistant coach Zeljko Petrovic said Wednesday.
Anzhi remain without injured summer signing Lassana Diarra, one of the few players in their squad to have faced Liverpool before this season, who damaged a knee ligament against Spartak Moscow last month.
Anzhi warmed up for the Liverpool clash with a dominant 3-1 defeat of Terek Grozny on Sunday, while Liverpool drew 1-1 with Reading and are on a three-game winless streak.
