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"Anyone who goes to Burnley who doesn't wear a claret and blue scarf will get a bit of stick so I'm not bothered about it really," Hodgson said. "I didn't realise until I worked at Blackburn that there is so much hatred between the two clubs. Maybe the fact that Blackburn sacked me will save me."
Looking forward to the game he said of Burnley and manager Coyle: "I have great respect for Owen Coyle. They had an excellent season last season. He must be delighted and those of us from the outside can do nothing but take our hats off to him and congratulate him on the job he's done."
As Hodgson congratulated Coyle, then Coyle praised Hodgson, the manager he described ahead of last season's Carling Cup tie as one of the elite coaches. Today he said: "As coaches we all aspire to be at the level he's at, but I will make sure my team is ready to go and try and win the three points.
"I would certainly settle for the same result in both games [against Fulham and Arsenal]. But that was last year and it was cup competition. This is completely different.
"It's league business and we are all after the same thing, which is points, for Fulham to push themselves right into the top echelons of the league and ourselves to get back on track with three points which would probably push us into the top half.
"We have to make sure we are winning these games and we will give everything we can to win the match. It will be close to a sell out again on Saturday and we want to reward those fans who have been brilliant for us."