Fulham boss Hodgson defends leaving out Duff for Birmingham defeat

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson defended his decision to leave out Damien Duff for their defeat to Birmingham City.

Hodgson insisted leaving Duff out of his starting 11 had nothing to do with his involvement in the Republic of Ireland's heart-breaking world cup exit against France in midweek.

He said: "I left Damien and John Pantsil out of the side out of the side, but it had nothing to do with games in the week.

"I had ready-made replacements in Simon Davies and Stephen Kelly, good quality people, to fill their places.

"It made sense after they had such important matches in the week."