Baines not in Hodgson's plans for Denmark friendly

, 4 March, 0comments  |  Jump to most recent
Roy Hodgson says that Leighton Baines won't feature for England in the friendly against Denmark tomorrow evening and has broadly hinted that the Blues' star has done enough to make the squad for the World Cup Finals.

The England manager is only expected to have room for two fullbacks of when he names his squad for the World Cup and will not be able to give minutes to all three of Baines, Ashley Cole and Luke Shaw at Wembley this week. So, with a crucial FA Cup tie at Arsenal looming at Saturday, Roberto Martinez is the beneficiary of his decision to leave the Everton man out of his plans and let Cole and Shaw stake their claim for a place on the plane to Brazil this summer.

"All three of them want to play but even with substitutions I can't fit in three left-backs," Hodgson told reporters today. "I've spoken to Leighton and he won't feature, unless we get an incredible number of injuries."

In an apparent nod to the fact that Baines has already cemented his place in the manager's thinking, Hodgson added: "It's the right moment to look at Luke and Ashley, as Leighton has been playing regularly for us. The two I need to look at in an England shirt are Ashley and Luke."

With Phil Jagielka already out through injury, that leaves Ross Barkley as the only Blues representative left who is likely to play any part against the Danes.

Martinez will have a nervous eye on Belgium and the Republic of Ireland's games hoping that none of his other international players pick up injuries should they be involved.

Quotes sourced from The Guardian





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