Roy Hodgson insists England will not let anyone down at Euro 2016 but admitted his difficulty in leaving Danny Drinkwater, Andros Townsend and Fabian Delph out of his final 23-man squad.
The players were informed of Hodgson’s final decision shortly after training yesterday as he opted to go with five strikers including Manchester United teenager Marcus Rashford and Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge.
Hodgson revealed he would have ideally taken all 26 players but Uefa rules stipulate he had to omit three before last night’s 11pm deadline — although any injured player can be replaced up until England’s opening Group B game against Russia on June 11.
England face Portugal at Wembley tomorrow night in their final warm-up game before travelling to their Chantilly training base on Monday and Hodgson said: “Earlier this week I chose my squad of 23 after initially naming a slightly larger group of 26 players earlier this month. Saying goodbye to players is never an easy thing to do — all of the individuals in the extended squad merited a place on the plane. The group have been extremely professional throughout this period and our preparation has gone well.
“England go into the tournament with a positive and optimistic mind-set. We have prepared well and I’m confident our players won’t let anyone down this summer, the team all want to perform to their highest level.
“We’re now looking forward to arriving at our French training camp and putting in the work necessary for our opening game in Marseille against Russia.”
England’s squad is the youngest to represent the country in a European Championship with an average age of 25. Writing in the official matchday programme for the Portugal game, he said: “There is a good blend of youth and experience running throughout the squad in the various positions.
“This group of players have proved themselves already by winning 10 out of 10 qualifying matches — turning in some excellent performances and results against high-quality international opposition.”
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