Roy Hodgson has described Daniel Sturridge as a “special player” and hopes the England striker will prove key to his country for the rest of Euro 2016.
Advertisement
The Dragons had the lead at half-time after Gareth Bale beat Joe Hart with a 35-yard free-kick shortly before the break, but everything changed in the second stanza. “I did not expect to play 90 minutes and it was just good to start the game”. “A lot of us were calling for them but it’s easier said than done when you are the manager”.
But he insisted he needs the likes of Vardy, Sturridge and Marcus Rashford to offer competition to Harry Kane up front.
“Watching France play Albania last night it was a similar situation where (Paul) Pogba and (Antoine) Griezmann came on the field and that helped the French to get the victory they looked like they might be denied by a well-organised Albania team”.
“It is the worst way to lose a football game but you can not ask for more than it being in your own hands”.
The Leicester City striker – who came off the bench for Harry Kane during his team’s match against Wales on Thursday afternoon – was making his first appearance in the tournament and didn’t wait long to have a big impact. The victory temporarily vaults England to the top of Group B, although all four teams in the group can still qualify for the knockout round according to ESPN FC.
“It is fantastic. We played so well against Russian Federation and conceded in the 93rd minute and today we worked so hard in the second half and pushed and pushed and then scored in the 92nd minute, I suppose it shows things do even out but it is rare to see them even out in the space of two games”.
“We’ve defended amazingly but, if we can get the ball down and play more, hopefully I can influence it a bit more”.
Jordan Henderson and James Milner also provide an option here, but a fit Wilshere is undeniably one of England’s best players.
There was a lot of criticism that Roy kept the same team against Wales from the Russian Federation game with Raheem Sterling starting.
Rooney added: “We played some great stuff [against Wales] and it was a great feeling to win the game the way we did and that has nearly qualified us now”.
“It will give them a massive lift”, said Carragher.
England went within a whisker of a damaging draw.
“Before we go into this tournament, if you say it is all on the last game and if we get a result we go through, we would have to accept that”, he said.
Advertisement
“No one’s even thinking of that experience, we want to go in with a fresh mind. We’ve got to put this to bed quickly”.
