ContinueEngland manager Roy Hodgson has thrown down the gauntlet to the country's young guns, by hinting that he may look towards a more youthful approach the deeper England get into their World Cup qualifying campaign.
With England set to meet Moldova in their opening qualifier on September 7th, Hodgson is starting to piece together his squad, which is expected to rely heavily on his more experienced players, but insisted that there was still a massive role to play for the younger members of his side.
"A lot of players have forced their way into my thinking, through the GB tournament, when the Englishmen who played in that acquitted themselves very well, and of course in Italy where some players acquitted themselves also very well.
"I haven't got a closed mind in the sense that if you went to the Euros that you won't be in this squad either. But on the other hand, I'm also aware that especially in the early stages experience is going to play a part and hopefully I'll be able to get a balance between experience and youth. The squad you're going to pick is going to be very much dependent upon what happens in the next two weeks of the Premier League."
With question marks surrounding Wayne Rooney's apparent lack of fitness, and with three of Hodgson's four strikers from Euro 2012 playing second fiddle at their clubs, the England boss defended his attack line, insisting that he will select players who fit into his new-look system.
"The most important thing for me is if they're fit. We are going through the list of players we have and are choosing from them, whether they play or not is up to their club coaches.
"I will choose from the players that I know and think can do the job. If they are not playing for their club teams, it will be a disadvantage, but it won't necessarily preclude them from playing."
One player who has sparked debate is Liverpool's Andy Carroll. With club boss Brendan Rodgers making it clear that the powerful forward doesn't feature in his plans for the season, his future at Anfield appears in jeopardy. However, Hodgson refused to rule out Carroll from his first squad of the new campaign, by suggesting that there could well be a place for the under-fire hitman.
"You prefer people to play, but on the other hand I'm more than aware as an international manager that club coaches have an agenda. What they need to do is maybe different to what I would like to see happening and you certainly don't have any influence on that whatsoever.
"It would be up to me to decide that if a player isn't playing for his club team, do I still think there's a place for him in the international set-up and if you ask me do I prefer if he plays every week, then the obvious answer is yes."
