West Bromwich Albion boss Roy Hodgson is backing Graham Dorrans to fill the void left by Zoltan Gera’s absence.

The Scotland midfielder replaced Gera in Saturday’s draw at Loftus Road and played a similar role during Albion’s promotion two seasons ago.

And Hodgson feels he can do so again – provided he builds on Saturday’s performance in the advanced midfield role just behind the lone striker.

“I thought Graham did well in that position, it was just that last pass or the last piece of control that sometimes didn’t come off,” said Hodgson.

“But I thought he did well and got into some good positions.

“If I had been working with the team playing against him I would have been a bit concerned about the positions he was getting into and the time he was having on the ball.

“He hardly played last year. I came in February and he hardly played for me.

“Then he got injured this season so he’s had about seven or eight months really without competitive football.

“He needs to play more games and the same applies to Peter Odemwingie.

“He started very slowly but he got into his stride.”

Speaking about the need to replace Gera, Hodgson added: “There’s no doubt about that – we have several players who can play in that position.

“We have people like Odemwingie or Shane Long who can drop deep.

“We have Simon Cox and James Morrison has played there too.

“So we’re not short of people who can play in that second striker position, it’s a case of having someone who can interpret it well.”