Stuart Pearce’s side got their campaign off to a losing start following Lorenzo Insigne’s free kick but the Liverpool man has urged his team-mates to respond

England Under-21 captain Jordan Henderson is targeting six points from the Young Lions’ remaining two group games of the European Championships after stumbling to defeat against Italy in their opening match.

Stuart Pearce’s team went to Israel having kept a clean sheet in nine consecutive games, but were undone by a Lorenzo Insigne free kick on Wednesday night in Tel-Aviv.

Though Henderson admits England underperformed against the Azzurrini, he is keen to move on quickly and is already looking towards gaining points against remaining group opponents Norway and Israel.

“I didn’t think we played as well as we could have to be honest,” Henderson told Sky Sports after the match.

“We’ve got to pick ourselves up now, we’ve still got two games to go so we’ve got to take the positives from that.

“There’s two games left and we want to win both of them to get out of the group, it doesn’t really matter how we do it. We’ll be ready for the next game.”

England twice had the ball in the back of the net only for the goals to be disallowed, and Henderson was “baffled” by some of referee Antony Gautier’s decisions.

“[We’re a] little bit disappointed that our goal wasn’t allowed, I think it might have been a different game [had it been],” the 22-year-old continued.

“I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I still don’t know why it was disallowed, you’ll probably have to ask the referee, but I wasn’t very happy with the decision to be honest.

“I thought the referee was pointing at the kick-off spot, it was a good few minutes before they took the free kick and I think everybody was a bit baffled to be honest. But that’s football.”

The Anfield captain missed the final two games of the season, plus England’s recent friendly double-header, but the club expects the midfielder to be fit ahead of the new campaign

Liverpool have denied reports that captain Steven Gerrard has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery.

The midfielder missed the final two games of the Premier League season, along with England’s friendly double-header against Republic of Ireland and Brazil, to fix the lingering, long term problem.

The Sun newspaper had reported earlier on Wednesday that Gerrard was set to miss the start of the 2013-14 campaign, but Liverpool have now insisted the skipper is still on track to return in time for pre-season preparations.

An official statement read: “Liverpool today quashed speculation regarding captain Steven Gerrard’s recovery from a recent shoulder operation.

“The Reds skipper underwent surgery in May to correct a recurrent injury and was forced to miss the club’s final two matches of the 2012-13 season.

“A newspaper report published on Wednesday suggested the 33-year-old has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation – but the club can report that Gerrard’s recovery remains fully on track.

“As stated originally, the club’s medical team are confident that the midfielder is on schedule for his comeback and expect Gerrard to be fit and ready for pre-season training.”

The Reds skipper made 44 appearances in all competitions last season, scoring 10 goals and notching 11 assists.

The Uruguayan star admitted he would find a move to the Bernabeu very hard to turn down, and he is now odds on to be plying his trade in the Spanish capital next season

Having confirmed his intention to leave Liverpool in order to escape the baying British press, it seems that Luis Suarez’s days in the Premier League are numbered.
The Uruguayan striker informed a press conference in his homeland that he felt ‘bullied’ by the media in England, and would jump at the chance of moving to Real Madrid, should any offer arrive.

After such a blatant ‘come-and-get-me’ plea, it is surely only a matter of time before the 26-year-old is plying his trade in the Spanish capital, in spite of Liverpool’s insistence that the player is not for sale.

certainly seem confident of Suarez moving to Santiago Bernabeu this summer, as they currently have him priced up at slender 4/9 (1.44) odds to be turning out for los Blancos by September 3.

The Reds’ statement that they expect the Fans’ Player of the Year to see out the remainder of the five-year contract he signed last summer seems like nothing more than a bargaining tool, and this is reflected in the hefty 9/4 (3.25) odds currently on offer for the former Ajax man remaining at Anfield.

Brendan Rodgers may be hoping that Madrid’s long shopping list including Gareth Bale, Edinson Cavani and Isco will see his star player slip down the pecking order, although there are plenty of other willing suitors.

After taking over a Bayern Munich team that has just completed an unprecedented German treble, Pep Guardiola may hope to make his mark on the team by signing a big-name striker, and the Liverpool man is available at 8/1 (9.00) to fill that profile.

Having sold Radamel Falcao for an estimated €59 million, Atletico Madrid could rival their city neighbours for Suarez, with odds of 12/1 (13.00) on offer for him moving to the Vicente Calderon.

That Falcao deal may serve to spring fellow Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain into action, and you can get odds of 12/1 (13.00) on him moving to Paris.

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Al Hain-Cole is a Liverpool fan, experienced tipster and avid follower of European football. He specialises in accumulators and if you would like to read more from Al you can follow him on Twitter here.

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