Wenger sympathises with Cole after his Anfield sending-off

The free transfer from Chelsea was dismissed late in first-half stoppage time of his new club's season-opening 1-1 Barclays Premier League draw with Arsenal at Anfield yesterday.

Liverpool recovered from the setback to take the lead through David Ngog but were denied victory by a last-minute own goal from Jose Reina.

Hodgson said: "He is devastated – his debut at Liverpool, fantastic atmosphere, so desperate to do well.

"He was not playing at the top of his game, but was trying hard to get to that level, when suddenly he gets sent off.

"He was saddened by it all and not least because it put us in a difficult situation." Cole was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on Laurent Koscielny.

Hodgson felt the verdict was harsh and the club are now considering whether to appeal.

Surprisingly, they could find a character witness in Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who expressed sympathy for the England midfielder.

Wenger said: "It was completely in the corner and I was on the bench, so I couldn't see it.

"But Joe Cole is usually a fair player, he is not one I would record is a guy who tries to hurt people. It is not his style.

"Maybe he was a bit rushing in his tackle.

"He kicked him – certainly accidentally – well, because he (Koscielny] had a big knock on his shin. Fortunately his shinpad protected him well.

"We were scared it was broken because when he was moved off the pitch the physio told me it could be broken." Koscielny, a 9.7m summer signing from Lorient, returned to the dressing room at half-time on a stretcher but was able to run out for the second half.

Koscielny was himself sent off in second-half stoppage time for a second bookable offence.

Hodgson added on the Cole incident: "Of course we now have the benefit of replays on the TV and those replays suggest to me he was a little bit unlucky.

"I don't think he dived to tackle the player, he dived in front of the ball to try to stop it being played down the line."