Roy Hodgson: West Brom won't be relegation candidates

The former Albion boss returned to The Hawthorns on Saturday for the first time since leaving for the England job.

His new club Crystal Palace are in the bottom three, but even though Albion are 17th, one place above the drop zone, Hodgson is confident they won't be in danger at the end of the season.

"I don't see them really as relegation candidates," said Hodgson. "I think there are teams further up the table who come May might find themselves in a more difficult position than West Bromwich Albion.

"I am sure if you spoke to Alan Pardew he would say they have a lot of fights ahead and work to do as well.

"There are half a dozen teams who never have to give relegation a thought but most of the time the others will have that little nagging doubt in the back of their mind.

"Because this is a league where you can lose three or four games in a row at anytime."

Hodgson received a warm reception from the Albion fans, and thanked the home crowd for their praise.

"I had a year and a half here, a very good year and a half," he said. "I had terrific backing from everybody, the club, the players were fantastic and the supporters were fantastic.

"It is nice when you come back that people remember ,although six or seven years have gone by , that this guy once worked with us and we liked him and he did a good job.

"They showed that and in this difficult world of football we find ourselves in you take every little pat on the back you can. It was unusual to get both sets of fans applauding you."