The Eagles were the better side throughout the Motor City Cup clash and were fully deserving of their draw – albeit followed by an unorthodox sudden-death penalty shootout defeat – against the UEFA Europa League winners.
Hodgson opted not to make any substitutions during the course of the game as he instead opted to focus on providing minutes on a core XI.
The manager told Palace TV: “I’m very pleased indeed. I’m pleased also we could get those players through 90 minutes.
“A lot of players who were in the team today are ones we are looking forward to seeing as our regulars through the season, but quite a few of them haven’t played very many minutes because we’ve been rotating and giving so many of the squad a game, not least some of the younger players who have come back from loans.
“This was a time when we thought: ‘we’re playing a top-quality opponent – it would be good if we can get the team on the field that we think is our best team at this moment in time’, then to push them through as many minutes as we could.
“For them to play the 90 minutes was an extra bonus, and to dominate the game against Sevilla like we did was also a bonus. It was just the final goal or final finish that stopped us winning the game.”