By Simon Wright – Follow
me on Twitter @Siwri88
Ahead of two
vitally important World Cup qualifiers for England, manager Roy Hodgson faces a
real injury headache.
Two more
withdrawals on Thursday have left him with limited options ahead of the matches
against Moldova at Wembley on Friday night, and the bigger test in Kiev against
Ukraine next Tuesday.
Daniel
Sturridge has been ruled out of the Moldova game, and returned to Liverpool for
treatment on a thigh problem he sustained in the warm-up before his early goal
steered the Merseysiders to a fantastic victory on Sunday against Manchester
United.
It is hoped
Sturridge would be fit for the Ukraine game, although manager Brendan Rodgers
will not be keen on this, especially with Luis Suarez still missing for the
next two matches as he continues to sit out the early weeks due to his 10-game
suspension for biting Branislav Ivanovic in April.
Cardiff
defender Steven Caulker turned his ankle in training on Thursday and will also
miss out on both matches. He was only
called up to the squad on Monday to replace the injured defensive duo of Phil
Jones and Glen Johnson. Wayne Rooney is
also missing after sustaining a nasty cut to his head in training last week.
Hodgson (pictured) faced
the media on Thursday afternoon and was confident in the players he still has
available to him, despite missing the strong firepower of Rooney and
Sturridge. He also indicated that it
will be Rickie Lambert and Jermain Defoe who will start the Moldova match over
Manchester United’s Danny Welbeck.
Hodgson said:
“We still have enough firepower with Lambert and Defoe to replace Sturridge and
Rooney even though it would be wrong of me to say they are not players who will
be missed.”
England beat
Moldova 5-0 last year in a resounding way to open this iffy qualification
campaign which has seen the Three Lions claim two resounding and expected
victories over hopeless minnows San Marino, but fail to beat Montenegro,
Ukraine or Poland so far.
Hodgson’s
side enter this critical double header just a point clear of Ukraine and one
point behind Montenegro. Qualification
for next summer’s World Cup is nowhere near certain, and a defeat in any of the
remaining games will all but end hopes of an English invasion on Brazil in
2014.
It has been a
difficult week for Hodgson, who could only look on with despair at Anfield over
the weekend as Jones limped off with a knee injury, and Johnson later sprained
his ankle to add to Rooney’s already expected absence. The England boss had already been heavily
critical of the Premier League and Sky Sports for moving the fixtures of
Liverpool v Manchester United and Arsenal v Tottenham just five days before
massive games for the national team.
It was a
headache he wasn’t hoping to endure, but might have had a bad feeling ever
since the fixtures were published in the middle of June.
What he has
to do now is put these setbacks behind him, and get the right results over the
next five days. While four points from
these games would be a solid return, only a maximum six-point haul would ensure
the Three Lions have their destiny in their own hands heading into October’s
final qualifiers at home to Montenegro and Poland.
Hodgson’s
headache is itching away. Painkillers
won’t erode it though, only a positive couple of performances from his squad
will ease the frustration on the manager.
ENGLAND SQUAD TO FACE MOLDOVA AND
UKRAINE IN THE WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fraser
Forster (Celtic), John Ruddy (Norwich City)
Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary
Cahill (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur),
Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Chris Smalling (Manchester United)
Midfielders: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jack
Wilshere (Arsenal), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Theo Walcott
(Arsenal), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), James
Milner (Manchester City), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Ross Barkley (Everton),
Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Ashley Young (Manchester United)
Strikers: Danny Welbeck (Manchester United),
Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), Rickie Lambert (Southampton), Daniel
Sturridge (Liverpool)
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