Jamie Vardy and Danny Drinkwater are set to be the first Leicester outfield players to represent England at a major tournament after the duo were named in Roy Hodgson’s 26-man squad for Euro 2016.
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Manchester United’s 18-year-old striker, Marcus Rashford, who had only made his senior debut for the Red Devils three months ago, was given the nod.
Rashford netted in United’s 3-1 victory against AFC Bournemouth on Tuesday to take his club tally to eight goals in 17 appearances in 2015-16.
Hodgson said: “He’s one of the contenders of course”.
England face Russia, Slovakia and Wales in Group B of the 24-team tournament that starts on June 10 in France. It may only be for one week but I am pleased he has had such a good end to the season.
“It is great to be able to include him. There’s no reason why he can’t knock someone off their perch but it will be harder than some people might expect”.
The Chelsea defender started just 21 Premier League matches this season, struggling to secure a place before Kurt Zouma’s ligament injury in February, but is confident he is in the right form to impress next month.
After naming the squad, England manager Roy Hodgson said: “Everyone enjoys saying “This is what I would have done” but we’ve done a lot of work to analyse the players in the squad”.
Likewise Leicester City’s Danny Drinkwater also gets the nod, as well as Spurs’ wing-back duo Kyle Walker and Danny Rose.
“Next season there is the Champions League and then we will do what we can to retain the title. We’ve seen it this year with Leicester”.
Coming up with a ideal balance of young and experienced players in the squad he added “With the youth of this squad, I’d like to think it will have a long future”. It has made a huge statement putting Rashford in the squad and I am sure he will play a huge role in the qualification for the next World Cup.
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“Wayne Rooney is the captain and has done a fantastic job”.
