The Palace manager highlighted the club's thinking in making the Ghanaian a permanent member of the south London squad and explained the attributes which make him such a significant player.
He said: "Last year he did a great job on loan for us for the year. We made that loan permanent at the start of the season because we knew what he is, we knew what he could do.
"Of course, last year he didn’t score many goals and that was something which bothered him and I suppose was a factor for us. Are we going to get the goals out of him that we need? We knew what else he gives - but is he going to give us goals as well?
"That’s what he’s started to do this year. He’s scored a large proportion of our goals and he’s still contributing to the team in so many other ways.
"His contribution without goals is enormous: that work rate, that desire, that constant thorn in the opposing team’s defence and also the fact that when we lose the ball he’s so quick to get back in position and help us defensively which is something you need and it’s contributed to our last two clean sheets."
Hodgson's press conference is available to watch in full via Palace TV. Either click here or 'Palace TV' within the app - which you can download for free here.
