Applauded as he greeted supporters while taking to the pitch for his pre-match media duty with Sky Sports, Hodgson said he was "delighted" to see faces filling the Holmesdale again.
Asked if the fans will make a difference to the team, the manager said: "It's a question of what we can give them, really. It's the first time we've had them back and we're delighted to see them and really rather hoping we're going to give them something to make their day worthwhile and make them really glad they're back watching live football again."
The focusing more on the upcoming 90 minutes against the Lilywhites, Hodgson explained how his side had built-up to the clash, saying: "We know we're playing against the number one team in the country at the moment, so we know we've got a lot of work to do if we're going to keep them at bay because they have an enormous attacking threat.
"But of course they don't concede many goals so our attacking players have to be very good, too. Basically, we've done our usual preparation as we do for every opponent so we have a pretty good idea of what they'll try to do when they've got the ball or are defending.
"We're hoping the preparation we've made and the advice we've given the players about the best way to deal with them will pay dividends."
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