Roy Hodgson has warned newcomers to the England squad they face a tough challenge to break into the starting line-up for next month’s crucial World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.
Tottenham’s Andros Townsend (above) and Everton’s Ross Barkley were celebrating their first senior call-ups after their inclusion in a 27-man squad for the double-header beginning against Moldova at Wembley on September 6.
Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling, capped once in England’s friendly against Sweden last November, and Rickie Lambert, who scored the winner against Scotland in his first international appearance earlier this month, were also among the inexperienced names included.
And although Hodgson has had to rotate his team selections in the face of injury and, in some cases, a loss of form, the England boss insists he has already finalised his thoughts despite the decision to pick such a large squad.
“Am I going to juggle 27 names or do I have a good idea of what my starting eleven is? The answer would be yes because I have been building up to it,” he said. “There are players in the squad now who have come onto the scene late who will have to work hard to break into that starting eleven. I’m sure that they will understand that.
“The reason for the 27 names is that there are a lot of games before we meet up but also we have got a good time together and it is useful for me to see these players because after these two games there will be two more and hopefully plenty more games like it.”
England are two points behind Montenegro in Group H with a game in hand, while Ukraine are one point adrift in third with Poland two points further back in fourth.
“Ukraine’s win in Montenegro has made it tighter still,” said Hodgson. “People were suggesting it was just for us to get above Montenegro. Now we’ve got Montenegro, Ukraine and Poland are not out of it because they play Montenegro and the Ukraine.
“It is going to be a tight affair. There are four matches to win. It doesn’t change that dynamic and the best way for us to ensure qualification is to get four good results.”
