Baggies’ cup ace Cox ‘not for sale’

West Brom boss Roy Hodgson insists Ireland striker Simon Cox is not for sale.

Last year Cox said he would need to leave The Hawthorns for regular football and ensure he made Giovanni Trapattoni’s Euro 2012 squad. A number of clubs have been interested in signing the 24-year-old and last week Birmingham City boss Chris Hughton made a bid to take him on loan.

But Hodgson yesterday said: “He is not for sale.”

Cox has been a regular starter this month for the Baggies as Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie struggles with form and Shane Long’s back injury has kept him sidelined.

Hodgson was just as dismissive about a loan deal. He said: “Before we loan anybody out it would have to be with people coming in and it is not going to feature people like Simon Cox.”

The Ireland striker will start against Norwich in this afternoon’s FA Cup fourth round tie at the Hawthorns. He scored a hat-trick in the previous round, bringing his tally to eight goals in 13 cup games for Albion.

“I like the cups,” said the former Swindon striker. “They just seem to be games I take to, for whatever reason, and the cups have been good to me since I’ve been here. I’ve scored a lot of goals in cups since I’ve been here and not as many in the league. But if I can get goals in the cups I’m sure that will result in goals coming in the league.

“I did well and got a hat-trick in the Cardiff game. Now if I can go one better and get a couple more goals against Norwich then the manager will keep faith with me against Fulham and Swansea.”

Hodgson’s team are looking for revenge against the Canaries who beat the Baggies 2-1 in the Premier League at the Hawthorns.

“We have looked back at that tape and we felt we deserved at least a point from that game,” said Cox.

“Stats sometimes tell a different story but we have looked at it and statistically we were better than them.

“We had more possession, more shots and crosses, more entries into the final third. But on the day they probably had four shots and took two whereas we had five or six and only scored one. We probably got hit with a sucker punch.”