Hodgson yet to decide on Long
Shane Long
West Brom boss Roy Hodgson has said he will not be influenced by Shane Long’s barnstorming display in October’s Black Country derby when deciding if the forward is fit enough to start against Wolves tomorrow.
Long was a key player in the Baggies’ 2-0 win over Wolves, creating a number of opportunities with his strength and pace.
The former Reading striker has missed his team’s last two matches due to chest pains, but has been training this week and should be available for selection.
However, head coach Hodgson revealed he hasn’t asked Long for ’more of the same’ this weekend, as the performance didn’t stick in his mind.
“I don’t base my decision on games that are going to be played in February on the basis of a game that was played in October,” he said.
“To be frank, I can’t remember if he played well or badly in that game. But I’m glad to hear he played well.
“I think he was having a good spell at that time so it doesn’t surprise me.
“It’s more a question of whether we start him after the fact that he hasn’t played in the last month or so.”
Hodgson added that Long’s condition hasn’t affected his mental state.
“His frame of mind’s very good,” Hodgson said.
“He’s a very enthusiastic person who loves to play football, and I think he seems to be happy to be rid of his two back-to-back injuries that pushed him out.”
For the first time in a number of weeks, Hodgson has a large and healthy squad to pick from, with long term absentees Chris Brunt (ankle) and Zoltan Gera (cruciate ligament) the only men certain to miss the match.
And the former Liverpool boss believes his selection luxuries mean the Baggies have no excuses if they lose at Molineux.
He said: “We’ve gone from a situation where it wasn’t always easy to fill the bench with senior players to suddenly having everyone except Gera and Brunt fit and ready for action.
“One or two are a bit short of match practice perhaps, but they are all physically fit and ready to play.
“So we can’t blame it, if we don’t do well, on the fact that we didn’t have enough players, we’ll have to blame it on the fact that we weren’t good enough on the day.”
