Hodsgon: I'll only pick fully fit players
Only those who are fit to play will make England's Euro 2016 squad, according to manager Roy Hodgson.
England manager Roy Hodgson said he will only pick fully fit players in his squad for next year's Euro 2016 in France.
Hodgson has a number of absentee's for the upcoming international break, including the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere.
England will travel to face Spain on Friday before hosting France on November 17 at Wembley.
However, Hodgson has fired a warning to any players who are not fully fit ahead of next year's tournament.
"I would rather have 23 players who are all fit and ready to go," Hodgson said.
"I wouldn't be happy to really take players with us in the hope that they will become fit during the tournament.
"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.
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"We know what tournament football is, we know what the demands of tournament football are, and we will be thinking about those things.
Welbeck has not played since April while Sturridge has only made three Premier League appearances this season, but Hodgson is confident they will get over their injuries.
"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," Hodgson added.
"We hope they’re going to be back – Daniel before Danny. We know Danny will be back in the new year.
"Are we going to take a player to the tournament who's virtually not played any football, but because he's a talented player and might just become, in some miraculous way, capable of playing football? It's unlikely.
"But the next question is, what do you mean by a number of games?"
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