Roy Hodgson hails his bit-part players

Roy Hodgson today paid tribute to his Albion stand-ins after the Baggies' battling defeat at Tottenham.

The boss recalled Graham Dorrans and Simon Cox at White Hart Lane and handed teenager George Thorne a first Premier League start as the injury-hit Baggies slipped to a 1-0 defeat.

And Hodgson paid tribute to the efforts of his reshaped side, who were denied a draw by Jermain Defoe's second-half goal.

"We had a lot of players out there that haven't played for a while and were very anxious to play," he said.

"Dorrans hadn't played for a long time but unfortunately for him he fell sick at the start of the week. That was obviously going to hamper his performance but he was still able to get out on the field and he needed it.

"Cox has been waiting a long time for a chance, as Jara Reyes has. George Thorne is one we've had up our sleeve for a long time and Craig Dawson has been waiting for a long time.

"They've been kept out because the ones in the team have played well enough to keep them on the sidelines.

"They got their chance when the others were missing and they acquitted themselves very well. George Thorne was very good."

Albion soaked up waves of Spurs pressure before Defoe struck on 63 minutes, leading to a spirited late attacking effort from the Baggies.

And Hodgson insisted their approach was spot-on.

"If we'd played higher up the field from the start and opened ourselves up in midfield and given them even more opportunity to get shots in we might have been a lot more than a goal down," he said.

"All the time you can keep games tight, especially against the top teams, you give yourselves a chance. Even at 1-0 down you are not out of the game. You might sneak back into it."