New Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has thanked Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti for allowing him to take the job - but does not think the Italian will be so generous to lend the Londoners some players for their battle against relegation.

The 60-year-old is back in the Barclays Premier League for the first time in nine years having succeeded the sacked Lawrie Sanchez at Craven Cottage.

Hodgson, who had a one-and-a-half-season spell at Blackburn in the late 1990s, has spent most of his time coaching and managing abroad, with the Finland national team his most recent post.

He also had two spells at Inter and had promised Moratti he would return for a third spell once he severed ties with the Finns, this time in a behind-the-scenes role.

Instead he was given the chance to try to keep Fulham in the top-flight and was relieved Moratti did not stand in his way.

He said: "I'm very grateful to Massimo Moratti for releasing me from a promise I made in 2006. He half understood it was easy for me to make that promise at the time with two years of the Finnish national team still in front of me. He knows how much I love to work on the field and he wished me all the best and I hope to work with him at a later date.

"My relationship with him is still excellent and I know he will want the best for me and now for Fulham but his major interest is winning matches for Inter and making certain they have all the players they need to win the Scudetta and the Champions League so it is unlikely he will be lending us the quality of players.

"But if a player was available to go out on loan then he would certainly look favourably on us."

Hodgson, who hails from south London, has just four months to make sure Fulham avoid the drop but insisted he would not walk away from the club if that happened.

He said: "My commitment to the club is as long-term as any football contract can be these days. I'm not naive, I'm not stupid, but I will do the job to the best of my ability until the club says otherwise."

As well as Finland, Hodgson managed the Swiss national team and had lengthy spells in Swedish football as well as shorter stints in Denmark and the United Arab Emirates.

Often he was linked with the England job whenever that became vacant and recently the vacant Republic of Ireland post but insisted he never puts himself in the frame.

He said: "I had lots of other national team jobs but I don't know and to be honest that's another chapter.

"I don't want to talk about those things to be honest. I have been lucky enough throughout my career to sometimes have meetings with people who express an interest because I prefer to keep those things to myself."

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