Starting with the day's headline news, the manager discussed how important Wilfried Zaha's return is.
"He's a very important player for us," Hodgson said. "There's no question of that. Obviously he's a very good quality player. We're happy to have him back; it was disappointing to lose him for the last two games but we're hoping that absence will have made his heart grow fonder and he'll give a very good performance today."
Then Hodgson turned his attention to another attacking talent: Christian Benteke, who replaces Jordan Ayew in the lineup today.
Asked why he opted to field the Belgian this afternoon, the manager said: "Well, to be fair, he's been working hard to get back in the team. He's done very well in training, he's done well in the occasions I've put him on at the end of games.
"Obviously we haven't scored in the last couple of games and I think it's the right time to give him a chance to show what he can do alongside Wilf, because that's the only combination we haven't used yet."
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