Euro 2016

HODGSON TO NAME HIS EURO 2016 SQUAD NEXT WEEK

Head coach of the English men national team, Roy Hodgson, will now name his Euro 2016 final 23-man squad next week.

The coach had earlier opted to reveal this on Thursday, May 12th 2016. The coach opted to he could make a better assessment of players’ fitness after the final round of Premier League fixtures, even though the official deadline for the Football Association to submit its squad to UEFA before the tournament is 31 May.

England have warm-up games against Turkey, Australia and Portugal before the finals, which are being played in France between 10 June and 10 July. Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck is expected to be ruled out with an injury to his right knee suffered in Sunday’s 2-2 draw against Manchester City. The Gunners forward was one of the players almost certain of making the final squad, even ahead of his club mate, Theo Walcott.

Scans and tests have revealed Welbeck has suffered serious cartilage damage and could be out until February 2017. The key performer in England’s qualifying campaign just returned this February from an injury to his other knee which he’d sustained in May 2015.

Also fellow Arsenal player, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is already missing the tournament. The 22-year-old has not featured for the Gunners since their Champions League defeat to Barcelona at the Emirates in February, when he suffered a knee injury. His latest setback is a fresh injury,

There are also fitness concerns over another Gunners midfielder, Jack Wilshere, who has just returned to Arsenal’s first team after 10 months out with a broken leg. Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson suffered knee ligament damage last month but The Reds manager Jurgen Klopp insists the 25-year-old will be ready for the tournament.

Hodgson has insisted that he has most of his picks clear in his mind, and will select a 23-man squad and a few back-ups, rather than naming a larger squad and trimming it down before the final deadline on May 31. England are among the top favourites to lift the trophy.