Brendan Rodgers firmly behind defender Daniel Agger despite dismal performance against Swansea

Daniel Agger of Liverpool

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has quashed all speculation regarding the future of defender Daniel Agger, and has confirmed the player has his complete backing.

Rumours of a possible exit started doing the rounds after the Dane was substituted with Kolo Toure shortly after half time after a dreadful performance at the back in the first half against Swansea.

The club vice-captain was linked with a move to Napoli with former boss Rafa Benitez in the January transfer window, given his lack of first team chances.

However, Rodgers has put to rest all conjecture with his latest comments.

“There has been a lot of spotlight, unfairly, on Daniel this week. What happened to Daniel was no different to what happened to any player,” he said.

“Just because it’s a defender, it maybe gets highlighted a bit more, but we made the change and we won the game.”

“It’s no different to a winger coming off, or a striker or a midfield player. I don’t judge players on the status of where they are in the group – it’s what I think the game needs at a certain time.”

Roodgers also confirmed that the 29-year old is certain starter in the game against Southampton this week.

“We made the change and Dan has taken it like the man he is. He has been outstanding in training this week and he will play on Saturday, no question about that.”

This might be the vote of confidence the center back needed to get his season back on track.