Hodgson hits out at critics

West Bromwich Albion manager Roy Hodgson is angry that he was sacked so early on in his Liverpool career.

Hodgson had a poor six months in charge at Liverpool before being relieved of his duties in January.

The 63-year-old’s Anfield failure has been followed by a successful second half of the season where he has guided West Brom to Premier League safety.

West Brom travel to relegation-threatened Wolves on Sunday.

“I would like to have thought that people wouldn’t have made judgments on good and bad in the space of months,” he said on Friday.

“I always remain positive. I think that in a career that has been as long as mine I’m very satisfied with it myself and I don’t follow the headlines.”

“If there are headlines suggesting I’m not very good or headlines that I am very good, I take it all with the same pinch of salt.”

“It’s a sad indictment of a 36-year career that after one period which is less than successful, people are making judgments about your ability.”

“It makes it a pretty sad world for us people and professionals working in it.”

Hodgson welcomes midfielder Jerome Thomas back to the side after he was ruled out of last weekend’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa.

And the manager made a point of being perfectly upfront about the prospects of Chris Brunt and Steven Reid.

‘Jerome Thomas has trained, so barring any repercussions should be okay,” he said.

“Reid and Brunt don’t have a chance and there is no point suggesting otherwise or trying to encourage people to believe they can when it’s pretty obvious they aren’t going to play.”

Gonzalo Jara (knee) will undergo a late fitness test.