Hodgson not keen to put Wolves down

06 May 2011 16:30
West Brom boss Roy Hodgson will take no satisfaction from pushing local rivals Wolves closer to relegation by winning Sunday's crucial derby at Molineux. The Baggies guaranteed their own top-flight survival via last weekend's 2-1 home success over Aston Villa. But Wolves are still in the bottom three and defeat against Albion would leave their future hanging by a slender thread. Hodgson knows the fans would like to see Wolves return to the npower Championship, but said: "I'm not for relegating anyone. Sometimes in doing your job, you find yourself being in charge of a match which does provoke a relegation. But no one gets no satisfaction from it whatsoever and certainly I wouldn't get any extra satisfaction from it being a local team. "I have great respect for the club (Wolves) and for Mick McCarthy. I respect the rivalry between the two clubs and I'm sure our fans do. I can understand fans thinking that way but they would have to excuse me as a professional not wanting to go down that route. "But I repeat I do think we as a club have an enormous responsibility going into this game, the major responsibility being to our fans who are desperate for us to do well in it. "We also have a responsibility to other teams in the league who are fighting with Wolves for places in the Premier League. I am sure they would be very disappointed if they thought we were going to go there and not give our best."

Source: PA