Fulham manager Roy Hodgson says his knowledge of Swiss football won’t help him plot FC Basel’s downfall in the Europa League tomorrow night.

Hodgson spent two years with Neuchatal and guided Switzerland to their first World Cup in nearly thirty years in 1994 before returning for a season with Grasshoppers Zurich, but says that his knowledge is from a decade ago is pretty much irrelevant.

I had a year with Grasshoppers but even that is nine years ago. There are very few players still playing in Switzerland who were active when I was working there. Of course, we’ve done our research on Basel and we know what a good team they are. We’ve followed their matches, I have the reports, and we’ve given that information to the players. But I personally don’t have any advantage any longer because I once worked in Switzerland. I’m afraid the years have eroded that.

Since I left they’ve done fantastically well. They’re an excellent team and they’ve a good pedigree in Europe. They’ve beaten many top sides so we’re well aware that we’re playing a team seeded above us in the group. We’re preparing ourselves for a strong challenge and hopefully we can produce the football we did on Saturday again.

I have great memories of Switzerland, I have fantastic affection for the country. was treated magnificently well there and enjoyed a period of unprecedented success. It’s great to be confronting a team from that country, whoever they are.