Hodgson hails Bullard
04 Feb 2008 - 08:33:28
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson believes the return of long-term injury victim Jimmy Bullard to his team is like having a new signing at the club.
The former Wigan Athletic midfielder spent 16 months on the sidelines with knee ligament damage but scored the crucial late winner in the 2-1 victory against Aston Villa with a superb free-kick.
Hodgson said: "Jimmy played very well and he likes to be in that attacking midfield role.
"I think we can get more out of him in the offensive side of the game. I think he's got goals in him and he can also set them up.
"Full credit to Jimmy for taking the free-kick so well and scoring such a great goal. It was a goal that was worthy of the victory.
"We have to give Jimmy an enormous amount of credit and take our hats off to him and Brian McBride.
"Both had injuries that lesser players might have looked at and thought 'This is going to take such a long time to come back from, have I got the enthusiasm and strength of character to come back again and play at the highest level?'.
"Both of them set their stalls out to do that and both succeeded very well."