England manager Roy Hodgson
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England manager Roy Hodgson has dismissed suggestions that Daniel Sturridge was forced to train against his will while on international duty last month.
Hodgson bowed to the request of Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers and left Sturridge out of the England squad for the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia, even though the striker could play against West Brom on Saturday, according to his club boss.
Sturridge has been sidelined for a month due to a controversial injury he suffered during training with the national side in September.
Around 36 hours after playing 89 minutes of England’s 1-0 win over Norway, Sturridge pulled up with a thigh strain at St George’s Park.
Rodgers was unhappy that the striker was taking part in a full training session so soon after a match, and claimed the injury was entirely ‘’preventable”.
Reports suggested the Liverpool manager also claimed Sturridge had asked to undertake a light session – in line with his individual training programme at the Merseyside club – rather than a full one, but Hodgson denies that was the case.
”I don’t remember that. That’s dangerous that one,” the England manager said.
”I don’t remember that at all. I don’t have any memory of Daniel telling me that he didn’t want to train.
”He was quite keen to take part in that training session because he was such an important part of it.
”He was more than happy to come in and help us.”
It had been argued that Hodgson is setting a potentially dangerous precedent by omitting Sturridge from his squad when the player could turn out for Liverpool.
But the England manager insists there is very little chance of the player being fit for duty on Saturday, or over the course of the next two weeks.
He said: ‘’What’s the precedent here? He is not fit. How do you select a player that’s not fit?
”Let’s wait and see (if he plays against West Brom).
”All injuries are preventable. This was unfortunate.”
Rodgers insists on giving his ‘’fast” players two days to recover from matches.
Hodgson has no plans to implement the same system with England though.
”I’ve never been asked to give 48 hours’ (rest) to a player,” Hodgson added.
”We did quite a lot of two-day recoveries during our time in Brazil and we realised that we were just killing ourselves in terms of the training time we have available.
”For me that is unacceptable as we need to work with the players.”
Hodgson spoke to Rodgers on Thursday morning and the England manager was keen to insist he is not in dispute with the Liverpool boss, who has four players in the full squad even without Sturridge.
”There isn’t a club-country conflict on this,” Hodgson added.
”I’m perfectly happy with the situation. Rodgers seems to be happy with the situation.“
There was a hint of an underlying tension on Thursday when Hodgson was asked whether he would consider resting Sturridge’s team-mate Raheem Sterling, as Rodgers had suggested he could do for the upcoming double-header.
“I need to win games, just as he does. I need my best players,” Hodgson said.
“He Sterling has played quite a lot but there must be six or seven who have played as many minutes.
“I do not expect managers to tell me whether players should be selected, no more than I would dream of telling them who to pick.”
Sturridge’s loss is Danny Welbeck’s gain.
Hodgson was at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday to see the £16million striker score his first career hat-trick as Arsenal hammered Galatasaray 4-1.
The 23-year-old led the line for England against Switzerland in Sturridge’s absence to good effect.
Hodgson said: “’Danny’s doing well. I’m very pleased he’s doing well and it’s good for us he’s following up his England goals with Arsenal goals.”
Jonjo Shelvey and the uncapped Nathaniel Clyne are also in England’s squad for the matches against San Marino and Estonia, which take place on October 9 and 12 respectively.
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