Raheem Sterling is Roy Hodgson's 'get out of jail' card for crucial Poland clash
Raheem Sterling is Roy Hodgson's 'get out of jail' card for crucial Poland clash
Liverpool teenager a late call-up to the squad following injury to Tom Cleverley and Kyle Walker's suspension
Plan B: Raheem Sterling is Roy's wildcard
Getty
Raheem Sterling has been earmarked for an England World Cup international rescue mission tomorrow.
The teenage flier joined the England squad at The Grove yesterday after Roy Hodgson lost Tom Cleverley and the suspended Kyle Walker.
Now
Sterling is set to go from an Under-21 start in San Marino on Friday
night to being Hodgson’s ‘get out of jail’ card if things are not
working against Poland at Wembley.
England must beat the Poles to qualify for Brazil with Ukraine certain to take three points off San Marino.
And while Hodgson will stick with Tottenham winger Andros Townsend on the right after his terrific goal-scoring debut against Montenegro, the England boss revealed Sterling was not brought in merely to make up the numbers.
Hodgson
said: “You can’t use 22 players and we all know that. But with Tom
Cleverley going down, so that we were one short on the players we
could’ve used against Montenegro, and with Kyle Walker now being booked,
if there’s any area in our squad of 23 where perhaps an extra type of
player could be useful then I think it’s the wide areas.
“We have
Danny Welbeck and Townsend but Cleverley, who could’ve played there, is
gone. I think Raheem Sterling is the type of player who can, if we need
him, do what Andros did on Friday.”
It was a clear and unequivocal
vote of support for Sterling, whose only Premier League start this
season was in the recent 3-1 win over Crystal Palace.
Hodgson
demonstrated his faith in Sterling’s potential 13 months ago when he was
added to the squad ahead of the home game with Ukraine, although he
stayed on the bench.
Two months later, Sterling, now 18, started
in the 4-2 defeat by Sweden in Stockholm, making a positive contribution
as he kept coming back for more despite taking more than a few whacks
and having a hand in both England goals. England team line up
PA
Hodgson said afterwards: “I half hoped to see some of the
things we saw from him. He had a difficult start and I was a bit
concerned how he’d react to that.
“But I thought his reaction was
very good and he had a golden spell towards the end of the first half
and the beginning of the second and that bodes very well for the
future.”
Sterling had to be content with a return to the junior
ranks for the rest of last season, winning in all six appearances for
the Under-21s.
Although until he plays a competitive senior game,
he could still be nabbed by Jamaica – he was born in Kingston and lived
on the island to the age of five – making his potential appearance
tomorrow a decisive day for the teenager.
Hodgson will hope that the call to Sterling can be made from a position of strength rather than weakness.
But
the England boss genuinely believes the Liverpool winger can have a
part to play in Brazil. And that he might, if required, be able to
ensure the Three Lions get there too.
No comments:
Post a Comment