Albion boss Roy Hodgson praises Shane Long after second goal in two games

Aug 21 2011 by Chris Lepkowski, Sunday Mercury

ROY Hodgson paid tribute to Shane Long following his second goal in two games – despite another Albion defeat.

The Baggies boss admitted to a feeling of ‘deja vu’ following the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea, coming just a week after the loss to Manchester United.

In both games Albion felt worthy of a better outcome.

But Hodgson took positives from the result, not least Long’s performance.

“Shane Long had another very good game,” said Hodgson. “His performance was excellent. He did everything you want from a striker and much more.

“He held it up well, got behind the defenders well and I wouldn’t want to be a centre-half when he’s buzzing around your heels.

“He makes even the most hopeless situations uncomfortable for any defender.

“He can be very proud of his performance, as can Ben Foster and Jonas Olsson who were also excellent.”

Hodgson continued: “We are disappointed. It’s deja vu because we didn’t do badly against Manchester United. We looked solid, played some good football but got punished. We made two bad defensive errors down the left and they punished us.

“We had chances ourselves and were a constant threat.

“We worked hard on our shape and there were some outstanding performances.

“I’m sure there are positives but at this moment in time I’m finding it tough, as people will see from the miserable look on my face.”