West Bromwich Albion boss Roy Hodgson has explained dropping Paul Scharner for the draw with Fulham.

Hodgson insisted Scharner's demotion was more down to the competition for places within Albion's midfield, where a loss of form will inevitably lead to players being replaced.

"You have to assess what players can and can't do," the manager told the Birmingham Mail.

"The fact he accepted responsibility for anything at Swansea had nothing to do with my decision last week.

"Scharner is a very different player to Youssouf Mulumbu, who is different to Graham Dorrans, who is different to Chris Brunt, who is different to Jerome Thomas, who is different to Zoltan Gera, who is different to James Morrison, who is different to George Thorne.

"So there you are - there's eight of them, yet only four can play.

"If I'd have played Scharner but not Dorrans people would be asking why I've left Dorrans out. If I'd left Brunt out it would have been strange, likewise Thomas."