Withdrawals highlight the limited resources at Hodgson’s disposal

ANY doubts that the talent pool from which an England manager can select his team is shrinking like never before must surely have been swept away by the last few weeks.

On the opening weekend of the Premier League season, just 93 of the 272 players who spent time on the pitch were eligible to play for the Three Lions. And of those, only 30 ply their trade with clubs who finished in the top half last term.

And as if that was not bad enough, Roy Hodgson yesterday unwittingly revealed just how limited his resources are becoming when he handed call-ups to Liverpool teenager Raheem Sterling, Tottenham’s Jake Livermore and Southampton’s Adam Lallana to his squad following a flurry of withdrawals.

Not only is Sterling still only 17, but he has just two Premier League appearances to his name. Lallana, meanwhile, has three, while Livermore only reached double figures in terms of top-flight starts at the beginning of this month.

None of the trio are expected to feature tonight against Ukraine as England look to make it two wins from as many games in World Cup qualifying Group H.

But the fact all three have been called up to the senior squad just a few weeks after Jack Butland set a new record by starting for the Three Lions despite his only previous playing experience having come in League Two, surely smashes any notion about Hodgson having an abundance of talent at his disposal.

The man himself, however, is not fazed as he looks to plot a path to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“We can’t deny that,” said Hodgson, whose squad at Euro 2012 was the only one containing players solely from one domestic league, when asked if the pool of English talent is shrinking.

“Would I prefer to have a reverse of that statistic, with 66 per cent of players being English? Of course I would. But that is not going to happen.

“The Premier League is a fantastic competition, but it is a league that embraces all the top European players. We have to accept that.

“One of the other facts we can’t deny is the top clubs know where the best talent is, and often go out and buy that top talent.

“That top talent, at a young age, finds it difficult to break into the team because of the established European talent in front of them.

“There will be occasions when I select people and you say they are only reserves at (Manchester) United, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea.

“But I may think they are worthy of a place.”

A host of injury problems has undermined Hodgson’s preparations for the start of the qualifying campaign with Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole and John Terry topping a list of 10 absentees from the original 23-man squad.

Even so, the call-up handed to Sterling, who is also qualified to play for Jamaica, yesterday came as a major surprise considering he has only started two Liverpool league games – the 2-2 draw with Manchester City and Arsenal’s 2-0 win at Anfield.

Hodgson said: “The fact is I understand that by bringing in a young Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and now Raheem Sterling – who is even younger and has only burst onto the scene in the last couple of games – I am causing headlines to be written.

“I have spoken to (Liverpool manager) Brendan Rogers and cleared this with him. He is satisfied. I have explained the thinking behind him coming in, and I will make it clear to Raheem.

“He will be pretty lucky to get close to the field because there were plenty of players who were chosen in front of him. I can only hope he takes it in the right way, and that it is great to be invited into the England set-up.

“He mustn’t think he has become a part of the set-up and has made it. He has to try, next time, to make sure he is one of the original 23. We will be watching him before October to see whether he will merit a place in the squad.”

The absence of so many squad members – Theo Walcott becoming the latest withdrawal yesterday after contracting a virus – has thrust the subject of how England’s hopes of success are being undermined by the influx of foreigners into the Premier League over recent years.

As someone who has been in charge of a host of top-flight clubs, Hodgson appreciates why his fellow managers often look abroad for signings.

However, the England chief does hope that the Premier League clubs will give any budding talent a chance in the future.

He said: “Every club manager has only one duty: to his club. We, as England, can’t start asking clubs to consider us when they are making decisions about their players.

“We just have to hope that the English talent that is being produced – and it will be because we have good academy systems – are still to be considered by their club managers and are good enough. We can only hope they are good enough, which means they don’t consider the foreign market.

“We can only hope that is the case, but we can’t make any demands on them or expect anything of them.”

As important as ensuring talented English youngsters are not squeezed out at the top level of the domestic game, Hodgson’s most pressing priority is making it two wins from as many qualifying games by beating Ukraine.

He has already indicated that there will be just one enforced change from the side that won 5-0 in Moldova last Friday with John Terry’s ankle injury meaning either Phil Jagielka or Gary Cahill will start.

As for taking on a side who England beat 1-0 in Euro 2012 on a controversial night when a shot from Marko Devic was wrongly adjudged not to have crossed the line, Hodgson added: “The quality of the two teams is similar. Moldova was a step into the unknown but this is less a case of that.”