Hodgson praises fringe players
Hodgson made nine changes from the team that beat Everton in the Premier League on Saturday
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Thursday, 17, Sep 2009 10:46
By Matt Hallam.
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said he was delighted after his team secured a 1-1 draw with CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria.
Hodgson made nine changes from the team that beat Everton on Saturday and believes his team's performance vindicated his selection of a number of fringe players including Zoltan Gera, Chris Smalling and David Stockdale.
"The decision to pick the team we did was made with very careful thought and was backed up by the powers that be within the club," he said.
"We made our mind up early on that if we are to do anything in this competition we'll have to use as many players as UEFA allow us to," he said.
"I think that now I can continue with this policy in the future. I don't have to worry about playing guys like David Stockdale, Christopher Smalling, Jonathan Greening or Zoltan Gera.
"The team showed they deserved to be selected because we played against a good CSKA side. These players had a serious chance to show what they can do and proved why I can trust them," he added.
Fulham went behind in the second half after Sofia substitute Ferreria Michel's powerful strike, however, they equalised quickly thanks to Diomansy Kamara.
Hodgson said his team deserved something from the game and was proud of his players' composure in front of a frenetic home crowd.
"CSKA were cheered on by a large and vociferous crowd. I thought we handled the situation brilliantly," the Fulham boss said.
"We responded excellently after they scored. We can feel very proud that we've taken a point away from our first European game. We deserved it."