ANDONI Iraola says it will be a “pleasure” to be in the opposite dugout to Roy Hodgson tomorrow evening.

Iraola takes Cherries to Selhurst Park to face Hodgson’s Eagles in the Premier League (7.30pm).

Aged 76, Hodgson is 35 years Iraola’s senior and began his managerial career, in Sweden with Halmstads, six years before Cherries’ head coach was born.

Discussing the former Liverpool and England boss, Iraola said: “For me, it is a pleasure to face Roy Hodgson, someone who has done so many things in football and is still so competitive, last season and again this season.

"He has been adapting his team. They have a couple of different structures, so we will see what we face tomorrow.

"But he is someone who has shown his level for so many years, so for me I like to face him. “

Asked if he feels he can have similar longevity in the game, with this his sixth season in management, Iraola said: “I don’t think so! I don’t think I will be.

“It must be very difficult, because you have to be successful most seasons to be coaching for so long. I don’t see myself doing it for so long.

“You have to be a top level manager to do these things, to keep the hunger.

“Football goes very quickly, so you have to adapt every single season.

“But for someone to do it for so long, I think it has to be someone very smart, very ready for small changes and it looks like he is.”

Cherries, unbeaten in three, would move level on points with Palace in the table should they emerge victorious in south London tomorrow.

But wins over the Eagles have been hard to come by for Cherries in recent years, losing each of the last five top-flight encounters.

Discussing the challenge ahead, Iraola said: “It is a team that is above us. We have the chance to close this gap, but they have been above us from the beginning of the season.

“It is also, from what I’ve heard, a very difficult stadium to perform. It is really tough to play there. We have to be ready to start on the front foot.

“I would say they have very good individuals. I think their two centre-backs (Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi) are very, very good, on the ball and off the ball, defensively.

“And up front, like all the teams in the Premier League. (Odsonne) Edouard is scoring a lot of goals, (Michael) Olise has been playing very well, they have a lot of individuals.

“But we have to be ready, like we did against Aston Villa the other day, give them as few chances as we can, because it is what the competition demands.”