LONDON: England manager Roy Hodgson has revealed young stars like Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley could be asked to play for England’s under- 21s at next year’s Under-21 European Championship.
While Hodgson’s focus is firmly on England’s bid to qualify for the senior European Championship in 2016, he is eager for his up-and-coming players to acquire as much experience of tournament football as possible.
Phil Jones, Calum Chambers, Luke Shaw, Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain are among the other members of the senior squad who could theoretically be asked to turn out for Gareth Southgate’s under-21s at the 2015 tournament in the Czech Republic.
“That’s what the FA (Football Association) would like to happen.
It will just be a question of Gareth and I sitting down and deciding which ones are the right ones to send,” Hodgson told reporters earlier this week.
“There is always going to be a risk that he and I decide that although this player could have done both, we are not going to ask him to because he already has tournament experience, for example, or we think it’s a bit unfair he has not been anywhere near the other ones (in the under-21s) and all of a sudden he jumps in.
“But it will be a real discussion point between Gareth and I.
We get on very well in that respect and we both sing off the same hymn sheet.” — AFP