England manager Roy Hodgson has expressed his concern that he only has a handful of players to select from that play regularly for their Premier League clubs, according to The Telegraph.
England begin their World Cup qualifying campaign with a trip to lowly Moldova on Friday, followed by a potentially tricky tie against Euro 2012 co-hosts and group opponents Ukraine at Wembley on Tuesday.
Although the prospect of facing a Moldova side who are currently ranked 137th in the FIFA World Rankings won’t cause Hodgson too many sleepless nights, the fact that the majority of his squad haven’t played too many minutes on the pitch will come as a concern to the manager.
England’s back line is not a problem. Goalkeeper Joe Hart is a certain starter for Roberto Mancini at Manchester City. Additionally, England’s defence should all be ready and fit for the Moldova and Ukraine encounters.
Likewise, Leighton Baines, Ryan Bertrand, Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Glen Johnson, Kyle Walker and Joleon Lescott have all featured for their respective clubs in the first three weekends of the Premier League season.
John Terry has also been declared fit for the Moldova game after suffering from a neck injury which had seen him absent for Chelsea’s victory over Newcastle in the Premier League and their defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup last Friday.
The only minor setback in defence for Hodgson is the withdrawal of Ashley Cole from the Moldova game after he suffered a knock to ankle during the Super Cup game aforementioned. The 31-year-old will be reassessed by the England medical team just before the Ukraine match.
It is in midfield and attack where the 64-year-old Hodgson will be feeling uneasy. Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard and Manchester United’s Michael Carrick are the only week-in-week-out starters for their respective clubs.
Other England inclusions such as James Milner, Tom Cleverley, Frank Lampard, Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain and Theo Walcott can only currently be described as squad players rather than key members of the first team judging by the Premier League team-sheets at present.
One would assume that Adam Johnson will become a first-team regular for Sunderland after joining the black cats for £10 million last week. However, it will take him time to regain his match sharpness after being left out of the cold at Manchester City last season.
Hodgson will have even more of a selection dilemma up front following the withdrawals from Wayne Rooney and Andy Carroll. Of the three strikers that the England manager has at his disposal, none of them are guaranteed picks for their clubs.
Arguably, all three players have been hindered by new arrivals at their respective clubs. Danny Welbeck may be encounter limited first-team action by the arrival of Robin van Persie, Daniel Sturridge hasn’t started a game following the arrival of Eden Hazard at Stamford Bridge and Jermain Defoe may have to accept being second choice striker at Tottenham after capturing Emmanuel Adebayor from Manchester City.
England should have the strength in depth to overcome Moldova and Ukraine in their opening two fixtures and perhaps throughout the whole World Cup qualification campaign. However, lingering is the concern that once a major tournament arrives, will the new exciting youthful looking England side have played enough minutes on the pitch to cope with the world’s best?
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