Hodgson arrived at Craven Cottage in January to find more than 30 senior players on the Fulham staff, and after allowing some to leave almost immediately, he also moved on several others during the summer.

The former Inter Milan and Switzerland manager believes Fulham's young players will benefit, as it allows them to have realistic hope of breaking into the first team.

He said: "I think what I'm most happy about is that we've changed the squad around and we've got a small squad now, a squad that we really believe in and is well-balanced.

"When I came in January we really had far too many players and lots of them just trebling or quadrupling up for positions, never getting a game and obviously costing the club a lot of money, but not playing any football.

"Whereas now, with a squad of only 23 players, of which three are goalkeepers, it will give the younger players, like (Robert) Milsom and (Wayne) Brown, a chance to push forward and show what they can do in the first-team squad.

"It will give the players on the fringes a greater chance of playing, and although the squad is at the limit in terms of size, at least it's full of the right type of players that we want to be at the club and not just players that one has inherited and that are here really by default rather than anything else."

Former Everton striker Andrew Johnson is in full training now after a thigh strain and could make his Fulham debut against Bolton next week.

Hodgson has also assured another frontman, Eddie Johnson, that he can have a future at Fulham even though the American has been allowed to move on loan to Cardiff for the season.

Hodgson wants 24-year-old Johnson to gain "experience" in English football, with a view to him becoming more effective in the top flight.