Roy Hodgson has said he will select in his Euro 2016 squad only players who have proved their fitness and can play a number of matches in a short space of time.
England are severely depleted by injuries for the friendlies against Spain and France in the next few days, with Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge and Jack Wilshere among those absent. Hodgson, whose side won every match during qualifying, could use Friday’s trip to Alicante and the following Tuesday’s match against Les Bleus at Wembley as an opportunity to test his fringe players.
The England coach believes Welbeck, who had a knee operation in August on an injury the Arsenal forward sustained in April, and Sturridge, who has played only three times for Liverpool this season, will return to form and fitness before the tournament. But Hodgson warned that only fully fit players will be selected. “We will be thinking about their ability to play a number of matches in a short space of time, because that’s something that we always do. We know what tournament football is, we know what the demands of tournament football are, and we will be thinking about those things.
“They must be absolutely devastated to be in such a good moment in their careers just before the summer, in March for example, when Sturridge had come back from a long-term injury and Welbeck had got a move to the Arsenal and done so well. We hope they’re going to be back – Daniel before Danny. We know Danny will be back in the new year.