Roy Hodgson: I haven’t picked my first choice England team yet

Roy Hodgson admits he is yet to pick his ideal starting line-up as England manager after suffering disastrous luck with injuries.

Leighton Baines is in line for his first competitive cap after Ashley Cole became the latest casualty for Friday’s World Cup qualifier in Moldova. Wayne Rooney, Andy Carroll and Scott Parker are among the other absentees.

Hodgson, 65, last night answered questions from fans online and when asked if he had chosen his preferred team yet, he replied: “Maybe not, we’ve been hampered by injuries to very important players. We lost Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard, for example, before the Euros, and Wayne Rooney wasn’t available for the first couple of games.

“In the Italian game [last month’s friendly] I decided to leave out one or two of the obvious senior players who I thought would have been important during the qualifiers. I don’t think that I’ve been able to pick an ideal team as there have always been some important players missing.”

Hodgson also gave an understandable response when asked which one non-English player he could assimilate into the England team if rules allowed.

He said: “I suppose the obvious answer is Lionel Messi, because he does have the ability to win games. It’s a difficult question but if I must give an answer I’ll take Messi.”