August 29 2018

Roy Hodgson

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has hailed Alexander Sorloth after the striker grabbed his first goal for the club.

The front man's 70th-minute strike secured Palace's win over Swansea City to earn their place in the third round of the Caraboa Cup.

Hodgson was particularly impressed with Sorloth's work rate and hold-up play during the hard-fought victory at the Liberty Stadium.

"He was good and his physical stats are phenomenal," said the manager. "He deserved his goal, he worked very hard.

"He has been making steady improvement in the time he has been with us, having started well, before getting an injury. He works very hard at his game.

"We are pleased we had that option and a centre forward of his type and a centre forward of [Christian] Benteke’s type, a target that can be quite important for you going through a full season."

The 22-year-old, who arrived from Danish club FC Midtjylland in a £9m January transfer, was relieved to net for the Eagles.

"It's nice to get the first goal out of the way as you try not to think too much about not scoring," he said. "If it gets into your head then you are going to perform badly. So every minute I get I just try to have goalscoring opportunities.

"If you always have it in your head as a striker to score a goal then it is easy to be motivated. It's really nice, especially for the fitness, to show everyone on the staff that I can play 90 minutes."

Sorloth has had to watch from the bench as Hodgson has favoured goal-shy Christian Benteke in attack but is biding his time for a call-up.

"Sometimes you have to be patient when you get to a new club," he added. "You have players who have been in the squad a long time and they are going to play because they know the playing style.

"I have been happy with the way I've played, and the only thing lacking was scoring some goals. But I've got some confidence now and I think I've shown I can do well at this level."

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