Roy Hodgson: 'We would have beaten 11-man Aston Villa'

By Jack Prescott, Rugby Editor | 22 October 2011

Hodgson: 'We would have beaten 11-man Villa'

West Brom boss Roy Hodgson believes that his side would have beaten Aston Villa even if Alex McLeish's side didn't have a man sent off.

West Bromwich Albion manager Roy Hodgson believes that his side would have beaten Aston Villa even if Alex McLeish's side didn't have a man sent off.

Chris Hurd was dismissed in the first half of the Baggies' 2-1 win at Villa Park for an alleged stamp on Jonas Olsson, but Hodgson has said that it was academic.

"You could say it had a major influence but I thought we were controlling the game at that point and went a goal down against the run of play," he told BBC Sport. "I think with the quality of our football we could have beaten an 11-man Aston Villa today."

The Baggies boss was also quick to condemn the tackle by Alan Hutton on Shane Long which injured the West Brom striker.

"It will be very interesting to see what the experts think of Alan Hutton's tackle but I thought it was an appalling tackle," he added. "Shane's lucky not to have two broken legs. He has a serious knee injury I would think."

The win has moved Hodgson's side up into 10th place in the Premier League table, while Villa occupy eighth.