Injury headaches for Hodgson

Peter Odemwingie is one of a number of first team players unavailable for West Brom as they visit relegation-threatened Wigan on Saturday.

The Nigerian is out with a calf problem and joins Steven Reid on sidelines with the Irishman suffering from a long term ankle injury.

With Jonas Olsson suspended after his red card at Old Trafford and Keith Andrews a doubt after not training all week, manager Roy Hodgson has several selection headaches to deal with.

Hodgson told the Birmingham Post: “Everyone can point to maybe two, three, four injuries and we just have to get on with it.”

Despite going into the game at the DW Stadium missing some key players, the former Liverpool manager wants his side to get back on track after winning three straight games, before last weekend’s defeat against Manchester United.

“I think you’ve got to be careful taking too many positives from defeats, but we were on an excellent run prior to Old Trafford where we were obliged to play for long periods for 10 men,” he said.

“I hope we put that game behind us, not let it affect our confidence and form, and carry on where we left off against Chelsea a couple of weeks ago.”

The 64-year-old is also hoping his side put on a good showing for the thousands of Baggies fans travelling to Wigan in free coaches paid for by the club.

“Our support, home and away, has been good, but 4,500 is an exceptional crowd to be taking to an away game because Wigan is not exactly on the doorstep,” Hodgson said.

“We thank the fans very much for that and will be working very hard to show how much we value their support by giving a good performance and trying to win the game.”