Roy Hodgson has hailed the 'enthuasiam, passion and desire' of Zoltan Gera and feels he will carry on playing for some years to come.
Baggies boss does not expect midfielder to retire any time soon
Roy Hodgson has hailed the 'enthuasiam, passion and desire' of West Brom midfielder Zoltan Gera and believes he will carry on playing for some years to come.
Hungary captain Gera returned for a second spell at the Hawthorns from Fulham this summer at the age of 32.
Manager Hodgson, who previously signed the midfielder while managing at Craven Cottage in 2008, feels it will be a long time before he considers hanging up his boots.
"Gera can play on for some years because of his energy, enthusiasm and passion for the game," he told the Baggies'
official website.
"What will limit him, and which limits all players in the end, is injuries and wear and tear.
"But I think that will be in the distant future for him.
Passion
"Certainly, at the moment, if you didn't know the ages of the players you would not look at him in training sessions and think he is one of the older ones.
"You could quite easily see him as one of the younger ones because of the enthusiasm, passion and desire he shows to still be a good player.
"That's part of being a top footballer."
Gera, who has seen the start of his campaign frustrated by an ankle injury, completed his first 90 minutes of the season against Bolton at the Hawthorns on Saturday in a man-of-the-match winning display.
Hodgson heaped praise on him after that performance, adding: "Gera can never surprise me because I've worked with him for such a long time and seen lots of very good performances from him over the years.
"Perhaps the most satisfying thing for me in Saturday's game was the fact he not only played well and worked as hard as I expected him to, but that it was clear the fans realise he is a player who will do lots of good things for the club."
