West Bromwich Albion striker Peter Odemwingie admits he's spoken to manager Roy Hodgson about his first team place.

Hodgson has reassured Odemwingie of his importance at club level after he came off the bench to score the second goal in a 2-0 win.

Odemwingie said: "The coach (Hodgson) said he wasn't sure from the Monday beforehand that I would play in the Wolves game.

"I came back (from Nigeria) with a little bit of a cough and cold and didn't train for five days.

"I was disappointed because the derby is a game you want to play in because if you do well for the club and for the fans you are the man.

"But I saw the reasons for what he said and he encouraged me. He said I should remove all the doubts about myself.

"He said: 'All I should know is that I am one of the players that counts, that I was good and I shouldn't doubt anything'.

"That was a lift and after my goal all of my team-mates came running to and saying: 'You deserve this'. That really lifted me up."