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• ‘It doesn’t matter who scored’ says Javier Hernández
• Mexican praises David de Gea for performance at Liverpool

Javier Hernández insists he is no hero despite coming off the bench to salvage a point for Manchester United at Liverpool on Saturday.

The Mexican has endured a fitful opening to his second Premier League campaign. His pre-season was halted by the concussion he suffered on his first day of training after making a belated arrival to the club’s North American tour in July.

Hernández eventually made his first competitive appearance at the end of August, only to pick up knocks against Chelsea and Stoke City that ruled him out of more matches.

His poacher’s instinct clearly remains intact, though, judging by the way he took the second-half opportunity afforded to him at Anfield, when Danny Welbeck flicked on Nani’s corner.

It was Hernández’s third goal of the season and secured a 1-1 draw which, even if it was not enough to prevent Manchester City going top of the table, at least preserved United’s unbeaten record ahead of next weekend’s Old Trafford derby.

“I scored a goal but it is Manchester United that scored,” said the 23-year-old. “It doesn’t matter who scored the goals. There are no heroes here.”

There is no denying Hernández helped to change the flow of a typically tight affair that only came to life once Steven Gerrard sent his free-kick through the gap Ryan Giggs created when he split from the United wall.

“It is part of the game,” said Hernández on United’s defence not doing their job. “Gerrard scored a similar goal to that at Old Trafford last season, so we need to work a little bit more on it.”

United were also indebted in the later stages of the game to David de Gea, who denied Dirk Kuyt and Jordan Henderson. It cemented a view that it had been De

• Roy Hodgson admits midfielder’s confidence needs a boost
• Inexperienced Liverpool side to take on Romanians

The recovery process may be more psychological than physical for Joe Cole in Romania tonight after Roy Hodgson admitted the midfielder’s poor start at Liverpool had sent his confidence plummeting.

Cole will make his first appearance in five weeks against Steaua Bucharest having suffered a hamstring strain at Bolton in October and, on the eve of his scheduled comeback at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, an ankle injury when he kicked the ground in training. On top of a three-match suspension collected on his Premier League debut for the club, from the first red card of the England international’s professional career, and a loss of form, Cole has struggled to match the expectations that accompanied his arrival on a free transfer from Chelsea in the summer.

Hodgson revealed it has taken a collective effort to protect the 29-year-old’s morale. The Liverpool manager said: “He would obviously have liked to hit the ground running but it’s not been possible, largely because of injuries, but he has a long time with us, a long contract and we know what he’s capable of doing. The sooner he produces it of course the better for me, but there is no pressure on him in that respect.

“He isn’t a naturally confident character. He suffers when things are not going his way. Everyone at the club has worked hard to make sure he doesn’t take it too hard and take too much on himself, because he’s quite happy to take responsibility. Sometimes those players can take too much on themselves and push themselves even further down. Everyone at the club, but in particular the senior players and his England colleagues, have done a great job encouraging him. Hopefully it will start to come right for Joe against Steaua.”

Injuries to Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard, plus Hodgson’s reluctance to employ first-team regulars on Europa League away duty, have resulted in an inexperienced squad travelling to Romania. Hundreds of Liverpool supporters were stranded at Luton airport yesterday after poor weather conditions in Bucharest disrupted flights.

Hodgson admits Liverpool may be low on leadership quality against Steaua but, having obtained a draw with a makeshift team in Naples earlier in the group, he believes no member of his squad will be overawed.

The manager said: “I have still got Pepe [Reina]. He might be a far way away from the action in the goal but, to be fair, if you take the two most experienced players with leadership qualities out of most teams, there would be plenty in our position. Not many teams boast three, four or five leaders in the team. Perhaps being a leader means you push other players into a non-leadership position. This is a chance for someone to stand up and be counted. Poulsen did it against Napoli. Maybe he can do it again.”

Steaua Bucharest (4-4-2, probable) Tatarusanu; Bonfim, Alves, Gardos, Latovlevici; Nicolita, Gomes, Bicfalvi, Tanase; Stancu, Surdu. Subs from Lungu, Emeghara, Abrudan, Martinovic, Szekely, Radut, Angelov, Kapetanos, Nastasie.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1, probable) Reina; Kelly, Kyrgiakos, Wilson, Aurelio; Lucas, Poulsen; Shelvey, Cole, Jovanovic; Ngog.

Subs from Jones, Hansen, Flanagan, Robinson, Pacheco, Eccleston, Babel, Skrtel.

Referee Bulent Yildirim (Turkey)

LiverpoolJoe ColeSteaua BucharestEuropa LeagueAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

The Premier League has generally been oblivious to the pleasures of the junior European tournament, but it should be a competition of mounting relevance

Many clubs should envy Liverpool their gruelling journey to Spain. Rafael Benítez’s team are still going places in every sense as they seek to beat Atlético Madrid in the Europa League semi-final. They and Fulham, who face Hamburg in Germany, are prominent on an unexpected landscape in which Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal are nowhere to be seen. Those three were, of course, eliminated in the Champions League.

So, too, were Liverpool, yet it is to their advantage that they were knocked out so much earlier, even if the annual accounts may beg to differ. Whatever the financial ramifications, Benítez’s side have a genuine prospect of taking a trophy. The Spaniard agrees that this was never the main priority of the campaign, yet most managers would crave the possibility at their clubs of a third piece of silverware in half a dozen seasons.

Where English football is concerned, the Europa League ought to be a competition of mounting relevance. No Premier League side, after all, got past the quarter-finals of the Champions League and, without major outlay, United and Chelsea will most likely deteriorate a little more. The outlook for Arsenal is a matter of guesswork and Liverpool cannot be certain of the ramifications should an expected takeover eventually go ahead.

England, in short, is a country now primed for the Europa League. The snobbery about the tournament has been absurd, but there are few nations left who can afford to be contemptuous of it. By this stage, there ought to have been a keen appreciation of the challenge it poses. No English club has prevailed in this event, under its previous name as the Uefa Cup, since Liverpool’s 5-4 victory over Alaves in the splendidly dotty final of 2001.

Sides from this country sometimes appear not even to try. Martin O’Neill, for instance, wanted to put the emphasis on domestic priorities and used fringe players in what turned out to be a 2-0 loss for Aston Villa at CSKA Moscow in February of last year. Angry fans who had made the trip to Russia were not to be mollified in the Premier League, for which energies were supposedly being conserved. The side did not win any of their next eight matches.

Premier League managers have often looked baffled by the Europa League and its predecessor tournament. David Moyes is understandably seen as a potential successor to Sir Alex Ferguson, but he had better work hard on his answers for a job interview in which he will be grilled on the topic of leading United against continental opposition. Everton’s 5-1 trouncing by Dinamo Bucharest in Romania happened as long ago as September 2005, but the club have since got into a habit of inconsequence. In the present campaign, the side went out to Sporting Lisbon in February.

Some fans complain that Moyes “over-thinks” in Europe as the side ceases playing in its normal manner. Whatever the reason, the common bragging about the strength in depth of the Premier League was being undermined long before the misadventures of Chelsea, United and Arsenal, although the latter merit compassion after being pitted against Barcelona.

The Premier League, in its haughtiness, has generally been oblivious to the pleasures of the junior European tournament, which retains a heartening diversity. Since 2000, the prize has gone to sides from Turkey, England, Holland, Portugal, Spain, Russia and Ukraine. This is no parade of also-rans and José Mourinho’s Porto, who beat Celtic in 2003, were European Cup winners a year later.

The allure can be intense and some estimates put the number of Scottish fans in Seville seven years ago as high as 80,000. There were even more Rangers supporters in town when their team lost the 2008 final to Zenit St Petersburg at Eastlands, although Mancunians and their police force did not always see it as a fiesta.

Nonetheless, this competition has lived up to the vision of a grand and eclectic tournament to a degree that the Champions League, which is so influenced by brute economics, cannot match. People ought to rejoice in this week’s fixtures. Fulham have never won a major honour, but Roy Hodgson’s team routed Juventus at Craven Cottage, eliminated the Bundesliga champions, Wolfsburg, and can hope to return to tonight’s venue on 12 May, when the final itself is held in Hamburg.

In the Europa League, football is once more the common property of a continent. The ideals behind the creation of the European Cup, with its joy in the reach and variety of the game, are best preserved in the competition that continues night.

Uefa Europa LeagueLiverpoolFulhamKevin McCarraguardian.co.uk