West Brom manager Roy Hodgson has admitted he is excited by the possibility of a tight title race this season, following his side’s 0-0 home draw with Premier League leaders Manchester City.
City’s neighbours, Manchester United, thrashed Wigan 5-0 at Old Trafford to draw level on points with Roberto Mancini’s men, and Hodgson has been enthused by the race for top spot this season.
Hodgson told reporters after the game: “I think it will be tough right through to the end, as in some ways the riches are on the Blue side but the quality, experience and talent is equally as good on the Red side.
“I think Alex [Ferguson] has been very unlucky with the injuries and I don’t think he can afford to get to many more.
“Man City at the moment could virtually put out two Premier League teams with their bench today and one or two that don’t even feature like, [Wayne] Bridge or [Nedum] Onuoha who are top quality guys.
“But the impressive thing about United is they have nine injuries but have just put five past Fulham and have now gone and hit five past Wigan.
“The exciting thing for all of us that like football is that there will be a fascinating duel and we will have to wait and see whether Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool or Arsenal make their voices heard but they’re slipping a bit already.”
Asked if he was satisfied with the result, Hodgson told reporters: “Yes, you have got to be pleased with that haven’t you.
“We knew the magnitude of the task, and you are always hoping the task is made easier for you by the opponents not being at their best but we didn’t get that, I thought they played well.
“They played as well as they have been playing and can play so we had to be at our best to keep them at bay and I thought it was a very disciplined performance.
“I thought the longer the game went on the better we dealt with the ball on the counter-attack. I think it’s one of those games when we can say we got the point we deserved.”
West Brom were the first team in the Premier League this season to prevent City from scoring, yet Hodgson remained modest, once again noting the quality of the squad available to Mancini.
He said: “We don’t stop many sides scoring; we’re not a good clean sheet team that’s for sure!
“It was good to do it against a team of Man City’s calibre but it’s a bit concerning when you see players like Dzeko and Adam Johnson on the field when you’re already dealing with Aguero and Balotelli.
“They do have a lot of riches at the moment, there is no question of that and that depth and quality going down to 18, 19, 20 in their squad which obviously differentiates them from the rest of us.”