Hodgson has not ignored the danger of Stoke's set-pieces and Rory Delap's long throw-ins but has spent time working out how to hurt Stoke ahead of their Premier League clash at the Britannia Stadium on Monday night. A win at Stoke for the first time in 28 years would take West Brom through the 30-point barrier and leave them only two behind Tony Pulis' men. Hodgson admitted: "Every week, you come up against a team which has a slightly different focus to its play. At the start of the week, you begin to prepare your team around that focus. "However, although it is a cliche, it is important we do things right as far as we're concerned and that we don't totally change our game to suit the opposition. "We must have a game plan of our own and make certain we attack and defend well against all teams," he added on the club's official website. Hodgson also admitted he would like to have a player like Delap at his disposal. "There have been many players down the years renowned for their long throw-ins but Rory Delap will probably go into the history books as the most successful and difficult long thrower to deal with because of the trajectory and pace of his throw-ins. "There's also the size and organisation of the Stoke players in your box. That's added another dimension. "There are two major advantages with a long throw-in compared to set-pieces. "From free-kicks, you can adjust things, like the height of your defence and, even to the extent that Wolves do, push everyone out to catch your opponents offside. "From corners, the ball always comes in from certain angles. "But with Rory's throw-ins, not only do they come in from different angles - anywhere along the 18-yard line or even deeper - but most importantly of all, people can't be offside so you've got to defend it close to your goal." Hodgson also explained that the goalkeeper has an important role to play. "You have to hope your goalkeeper has good starting positions and that he's anxious to help out his defenders as much as possible," he said. "But the most important thing is that your goalkeeper makes good decisions about which balls he can deal with and which ones he can't." The former Fulham and Liverpool boss also praised the work done by Pulis at the Britannia Stadium. "Having brought them up, Tony has anchored Stoke in the Premier League and they're getting further and further up the table each year," he said. "Stoke are very difficult to beat any time but even more so at the Britannia Stadium. "Every team has to go there and prepare for the onslaught they can expect because Stoke take the game to the opposition and make sure the ball is in and around your penalty area. "We've got to be prepared for that and, most importantly, be prepared to ask a few questions of them because sitting back and just trying to survive the onslaught is a very dangerous tactic. "Our best tactic will be to defend very well when Stoke have the ball but also cause them problems when we have it. "But there's a lot more to Stoke's game than just their long throw-ins, organisation and the threat they pose at set-pieces. "Their game is a lot more mixed than that and it is becoming more mixed as they are becoming more adept at playing in the Premier League. "Where they are in the table is where they deserve to be." Albion back-up goalkeeper Scott Carson missed last weekend's 1-1 draw in the Black Country derby with Wolves due to illness but, like midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu (hamstring), will be available for the trip up the M6. Graham Dorrans and Jonas Olsson should also be fit after a slight knock and a bout of illness respectively.
