Hodgson relieved after beating Liverpool

He may have gotten his revenge, but Roy Hodgson said he took no extra pleasure in watching his West Brom side beat Liverpool 2-1 on Saturday.

The Baggies beat the Reds for the first time in the Premier League era after two penalties from Chris Brunt overturned Martin Skrtel’s opener at The Hawthorns.

But Hodgson said the win had no extra significance despite his acrimonious departure from the Merseyside club after an ill-fated stint as manager.

“I get no extra pleasure from beating Liverpool. I made a lot of friends when I was at Liverpool,” Hodgson said.

“The players, I have a lot of time and respect for, and the coaching staff, many of them worked with me and worked very loyally.”

“I don’t take any particular pleasure in that (victory).”

“The great pleasure I take is beating Liverpool because it is not something West Brom do very often.”

The victory rockets West Brom to 12th place on a congested Premier League table and Hodgson praised the character of his squad to keep fighting for their survival.

“I am more than satisfied, I am really happy with the performance. I thought apart from the first 15 minutes, we took the game to Liverpool and played some really good football,” he said.

“When we went a goal down, it was very much against the run of play, but it was a great achievement for the players to put that behind them and score two goals.”

“We’ve come back a couple of times against Stoke, Wolves and now.”

“I don’t doubt the commitment of the players and their ability to come back from being a goal down.”

“We do have a considerable goal threat in the team and it was nice to see the team pass the ball so well against a quality team like Liverpool.”

Liverpool’s loss was compounded by injuries to defenders Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson, with skipper Steven Gerrard already sidelined after reinjuring his groin during training this week.

“We’ve lost Steven before the game, lost Glen and probably Daniel Agger as well so we just need to get on with it and do the best we can with what we’re left with,” Hodgson said.

“Steven got injured in training, we’ll just assess it, we’ll know later on in the week how he is and what the damage is and the length of time.”

“They did look a bit leggy, but West Brom had 14 players away, and they looked a wee bit short as well.”