Hodgson hits back at West Ham

(GSM) – Fulham Roy Hodgson has hit back at West Ham’s claims that he broke Premier League rules by fielding a weakened team for last week’s defeat at Hull.

West Ham co-owner David Sullivan has confirmed that the Hammers submit a complaint to the Premier League about Hodgson’s team selection as the Tigers are now level with West Ham on 27 points after beating Fulham 2-0.

He believes Fulham deserve to be punished in a similar fashion to Wolves, who were hit with a suspended £25,000 fine for fielding a weakened side in their defeat at Manchester United.

Hodgson hit-back, “Firstly I don’t think West Ham should be picking our team and I think that is a fairly obvious statement.”

He added, “If there is a complaint but my conscience is perfectly clear on the subject and as far as I’m concerned we don’t have a case to answer.

“In the last game I selected a team comprising of a defender just sold for £10m (Chris Smalling), a South African international (Kagisho Dikgacoi), who replaced Danny Murphy and I replaced
Bobby Zamora with Clint Dempsey, a USA centre forward.

“I can’t understand why, if you have a large squad, it’s not allowed for you to change things around. I can’t imagine anyone questioning Liverpool, Manchester United or Chelsea for using all the players in their squad.”

Fulham beat German champions Wolfsburg 2-1 yesterday night at Craven Cottage.