Boss Hodgson said of the stuttering wide man: "He knows he is
better than that and he knows he can do better than that.
"He sets himself high standards and I'm sure he came off the
field feeling it was not the performance he wanted to give."
The former Chelsea man was one of the few senior players on show
as Hodgson made TEN changes from the team that
lost at Newcastle on Saturday.
But Cole struggled and missed a late chance. He has one goal in
his first 16 games for Liverpool.
Hodgson added: "Players like Joe play on very small
margins.
"If he had struck the shot less well he would probably have
scored."
Cole was by no means the only player who failed to deliver.
And Kop boss Hodgson was twice forced to apologise on a
disappointing night at Anfield.
Liverpool go through as Group K winners, and discover their
last-32 opponents tomorrow, but their sluggish performance will
have failed to scare any Euro rivals.
Hodgson had stated on the eve of the game he would unleash star
striker Fernando Torres.
But he apologised BEFORE kick-off after
deciding to leave the Spanish hitman on the bench.
And Hodgson apologised AFTER a flat performance
by his troops.
Hodgson added: "We are all a bit disappointed by the game. It
wasn't for the want of trying or that we weren't interested.
"It was disappointing that with so many new people watching us,
we couldn't produce a real performance for them.
"It wasn't a classic but Utrecht play really well away from
home, keep the ball and cause problems."