Fulham boss Hodgson: Duff better player than he was at Blackburn

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson has no doubts Damien Duff has improved as a player since first working with him at Blackburn Rovers.

Looking back on Duff’s goal scoring performance in their draw with Bolton, Hodgson was full of praise for the winger’s versatility.

“He’s a very thoughtful player and if the opponents are trying to box him up in a certain way, he’ll be doing his best to try and deceive them and do something different,” Hodgson told fulhamfc.com. “I think the fact that he has worked so hard on his right foot has made him a much more all-round player.

“It gives us the opportunity where, if we still want to play him on that right side, we still get the benefit of him crossing the ball with his right foot. We also get the benefit of him cutting inside on his left foot.”

Fulham certainly seemed to steal a march on the rest of the Premier League with the capture of Duff from Newcastle United in the summer. And Hodgson was always in no doubt that Duff’s qualities had far from diminished since the last time the pair worked together.

“Maybe the perception was that he had lost his way or the injuries had taken their toll,” explained Hodgson “These types of things permeate the world of football and people listen to them – people in my position probably had the same perception, ‘forget him, he a man of the past.’ But luckily I wasn’t prepared to do that – from what I saw of him playing for Newcastle last year, I saw in him what I’d always seen.

“He’s now a better player than the player I worked with at Blackburn 12 years ago. I thought he was an outstanding talent then and a very good player – but I think he’s a better player today.”