The Reds were comfortably beaten 3-1 by Newcastle at St James' Park at the weekend with a performance that sadly suprised no-one. After the game Hodgson was left to rue the defensive howlers that contributed to the latest defeat.
"The major problem was the second goal, which was an unbelievably bad goal to give away," said the boss.
"That's the bottom line. When you concede a goal like that, it's going to have a major effect on the team's confidence.
"We weren't looking that troubled at 1-1; we weren't exactly being smashed or bombarded. Newcastle had not put us under massive pressure but when you concede like that, you can almost see in the faces of the players, it's a case of 'whoops, here we go again.'"