England boss Roy Hodgson is giving Andy Carroll the Mark Noble treatment – BLANKING him.
The 68 year old stuck to a well worn line when declaring: “Every time someone scores a goal and he’s English it is ‘why is he not playing for England?’
“I’m certainly not going to pick him on the basis that he scored a hat-trick so therefore has to be in the England team.”
“We know Andy, we know his qualities,” added the 68-year-old.
“In an ideal world, if you had a lot of places at your disposal, you’d always include a guy like him because he is exceptional in the air – but whether or not I’d be able to include him with all these others, I don’t know.”
In fairess, the e England boss hinted that even skipper Rooney might not be assured of a place after his two-month lay-off with a knee problem.
He said: “There’s no disguising the fact that people like (Arsenal midfielder) Jack Wilshere, (Manchester City forward) Raheem Sterling, (Liverpool midfielder) Jordan Henderson, (Arsenal midfielder) Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wayne Rooney – a year ago they were five players who were getting into every squad. Things have happened to them and we have to reassess.
“If we can be sure they are at the level of fitness and capability to produce the performances they produced a year ago they will be serious contenders. If we are not convinced, we have to give it some thought.”