England

Roy Hodgson: 'Striking ranks strongest for a while'

By Joe Fish, Reporter | 08 October 2014

England manager Roy Hodgson claims that Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge represent the best strike force that the Three Lions have had in "a long time".

Roy Hodgson has claimed that England are blessed with greater striking depth than they have had in a long time.

Captain Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck, who scored both goals in the 2-0 win over Switzerland, are expected to start for the Three Lions in the Euro 2016 qualifier against San Marino at Wembley on Thursday.

Hodgson also has Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge - the leading English goalscorer in the Premier League last season - to come back from injury, but is not contemplating how his "healthy" forward line will look beyond this set of fixtures.

"There's no point crossing bridges and thinking ahead to what will happen when they're all fit," he told reporters.

"We aren't blessed with an enormous amount of competition for front places and I think there's now competition with three very good strikers [Welbeck, Sturridge and Rooney] and that's as healthy a situation we've had for a long time.

"There's no pressure on me. If all three are playing well and all three are available well there's nothing stopping all three of them playing because they're complimentary players."

Rooney is currently fourth on England's all-time goalscoring list, three behind Jimmy Greaves.