The young midfielder has emerged as a top prospect under the tutelage of Julen Lopetegui, and the head coach has not been afraid to utilise Hodge in high pressured situations since being given his senior break by Steve Davis, and being part of a midfield with some of the most in-demand players in world football who he can learn off every day, Hodge is hoping he can continue to improve and show his worth to the side.
On facing Forest and West Ham this week
“Every week’s a big week at the moment. We’re in a position where we need to pick up points. All of the games we’re going in to, we’re trying to pick up as many points as we can.
“But we’re focused on Forest now. It’s a good opportunity, we’re just two games from Wembley, so hopefully we can win there.”
Away end loving this. 👊 pic.twitter.com/oIIN7aCMiy
— Wolves (@Wolves) January 9, 2023
On learning from his fellow midfielders
“I can’t complain about not getting opportunities, and to have some in the past few weeks has been really good for me. I’ve done my best to try and take them, but hopefully I can keep doing well and we’ll see how many more I can get.
“I’m here with top players like Ruben [Neves], Joao [Moutinho], Bouba [Traore] and Mathues [Nunes], they are all top footballers and top midfield players, so I’m learning off them every day in training.
“The gaffer has worked with some of the best players in the world in the past as well, so he’s definitely got knowledge we can take from and he’s sharing that with us every day.”
On the improvements under Lopetegui
“He’s just really on it with everything. He’s keeping our standards high, we’re working hard every day in training, working on every part of the pitch and I think you can see that from our performances recently, how much it’s improved and how much more of a team we look like.
“But he’s on it, we’re all working hard and we’re all focused every single day – there’s no days off. When we’re in, we’re working hard. You can’t turn up and slack off. But that is what you need to be successful as a team, so it’s been good.
“It’s nothing that I haven’t seen before, but it’s his attention to detail. He’s working with every player to try and improve us and I think that’s showing.”
On having fighting spirit
“Everyone can see from the kind of performances that we’re putting together as a team. Everyone is fighting for each other, and that’s been the main difference in our performances recently when we’ve picked up a bit.
“But hopefully we can kick on now, start picking up some more points and hopefully progress in the cup as well.”
