Roy Hodgson admits Fulham couldn’t have got a tougher draw after they were paired with defending champions Shakhtar Donetsk in the last 32 of the Europa League.

Shakhtar, who completed a magnificent treble by beating Werder Bremen in last season’s UEFA Cup final, having won the domestic league and Cup, will be favourites to overcome Hodgson’s side, who reached the knockout phase with a fabulous win in Basle on Wednesday.

It doesn’t get much more difficult than playing the champions and we saw their fantastic run to the final and the good players they have. They have 13 foreign players and Brazilians there. They are a wealthy club and they pay very good salaries and buy players for a lot of money. They have proved they are a top team in Europe.

We couldn’t have asked for a much tougher draw but on the other hand we battled hard to get through the group stage and we were hoping for an interesting team. We have been handed the perhaps the toughest but we’ll get on with it and enjoy it.