Blame it on Rio! Ferdinand will regret snubbing England, claims legend Peter Shilton
'Playing for your country, for me, was the ultimate but that seems to have changed a little bit' says former Three Lions keeper
Back ache: Ferdinand pulled out of England squad due to complex training programme
Getty
Rio Ferdinand will regret snubbing Roy Hodgson's England call, according to goalkeeping legend Peter Shilton.
The Manchester United defender was offered a return to the Three Lions fold, only to pull out citing a pre-planned fitness routine designed to help him manage his long-standing back problems.
The 34-year-old then flew to Doha to appear as a TV pundit to analyse the San Marino match.
Former England keeper Shilton, England's record appearance holder with 125 caps, told Press Association Sport:
"Playing for your country, for me, was the ultimate but that seems to have changed a little bit.
"I
don't know the circumstances of what went on but I wanted to get every
cap I could. To play in the World Cup and try to win something for
England was the ultimate.
"I don't know why Rio isn't playing,
whether it's an injury or not, but if he has just pulled out for no
reason then I totally disagree with that." Changing times: Shilton claims playing for your country is not as important as it used to be
PA
Ferdinand received abuse from a contingent of Three Lions supporters during the San Marino game - with captain Steven Gerrard insisting fans were 'entitled to their opinion'.
Shilton
admitted he would not have enjoyed playing San Marino, where current
number one Joe Hart was little more than a spectator as England ran out 8-0 winners.
"I
wouldn't have enjoyed it as a goalkeeper," he added. "Those games are a
waste of time in a sense, although you have to be on your toes as you
don't want to concede against San Marino.
"But it will have been a good confidence booster for the game on Tuesday."
Roy
Hodgson's side face a far sterner test against Group H leaders
Montenegro tomorrow night, but Shilton is confident they can get the job
done and take a big step towards qualifying for Brazil.
"I think we are a better team than Montenegro," he said.
"But
as we've seen before away from home with a partisan crowd, we've got to
be strong mentally, not give anything away defensively, and I'm sure
we'll come out with a win because we are the better team. But it's never
easy and it's a big match.
"It's a group we should qualify from
and if we don't it's not going to look good. We have some good young
players coming through and Roy Hodgson is doing a very good job.
Hopefully Tuesday will be a springboard for getting to the World Cup." ---------------- Mirror Football
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