Crystal Palace Boss Roy Hodgson Reveals Disastrous Match Preparation Before 0-0 Draw With West Brom

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson was relieved to come away from the Hawthorns with a point after 'anything that could go wrong did go wrong', before their 0-0 draw with West Brom on Saturday.

It was Hodgson's first time back at his old stomping ground, and he faced Alan Pardew in his first game for the Baggies against his own former club.

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Speaking to the Croydon Advertiser in his post match press conference, Hodgson explained the list of problems the Eagles faced on their travels to the Midlands.

"Basically, anything that could go wrong did go wrong. Our goalkeeper (Julian Speroni) had just 25 minutes to prepare as Wayne Hennessey had a back spasm.

"With the disastrous journey we had yesterday, there were lots of excuses for the players to not provide the right type of performance, but they didn't take them, and we got a deserved draw.

"We got to Euston station in good time and got on the train at 3.23pm, but at 3.30pm it suddenly stopped to a dead halt because of problems with the wires overhead.

"We then couldn't go anywhere, so we spent three and a half hours in the dark and the cold with no toilet facilities until they eventually managed to get a train alongside us to evacuate us.

"Instead of being there at 4.45pm, we arrived at 9.30pm and then the hotel we booked was the venue for an Indian wedding, with plenty of noise until 2 o’clock in the morning."

Despite all of these hindering distractions the previous day, his side battled well and earned a deserved point against a buoyant West Brom side under new leadership, which sees the Eagles finally climb off the bottom of the table to 18th.

"The players could have said this wasn’t going to be our game, but the players did well. They [West Brom] have some strong players and get the ball in the box a lot, but we did defend well."