Euro 2016: Four England players with nervous wait for Roy Hodgson's choice

It was always going to end like this - not for the Wayne Rooneys or Joe Harts of the world, but for the fringe footballers, those on the edge: the not knowing, the waiting for the tap on the shoulder and then the pain of the cull.

From the moment Roy Hodgson chose to go with an initial England squad of 26 for the European Championships, knowing he had to trim it to 23 by Tuesday night, there was always going to be three unhappy and unlucky players.

The Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph already knows he will be left on the platform due to a groin injury, leaving just two in limbo. And, now that the dust has been swept up following the friendlies it looks like two from four. Here, we assess who looks like they should stay behind the yellow line and who can prepare to hop aboard the train for France.

DANIEL STURRIDGE (Liverpool, striker)

With Sturridge it all rests on one thing (as ever with the Liverpool striker): fitness. If he is not going to be able to face Russia on June 11, the England manager will not take him. A healthy Sturridge in all likelihood travels and on Monday he was confident of resuming full training.

Hodgson is a huge fan and rightly so: he’s arguably England’s best finisher (exhibit A: that wonderful goal in the Europa League final not two weeks ago). “Daniel’s a quality player,” Hodgson said on Friday night. “I know Daniel,” he added underlining the fact that he favours known quantities rather than those he has worked with less.

So, he’s a shoo-in? Well, he would have been a short while ago. But the emergence of Marcus Rashford has blurred the summer picture for Hodgson - and for the Liverpool striker. A month back Hodgson described the prospect of Rashford being France-bound as “unlikely”. On Friday night the United forward barged ahead of Sturridge in the queue with his goal against Australia from his first shot in international football. It is now almost impossible for his manager not to select him, not because he will get caught up in Marcus-mania but because he looks as assured and able in an England shirt as he has in a United one.

It could be that both go and Hodgson takes fives strikers and one fewer midfielders but Sturridge - whose moody, phone-fiddling, hood-up demeanour on Friday night’s bench may have done him few favours - cannot be confident just yet.

Travel hopes: 7/10

DANNY DRINKWATER (Leicester, midfielder)

It did not bode well for the title-winner on Friday night against Australia when Hodgson’s golden boy Jack Wilshere was put at the base of the midfield diamond, and Drinkwater was shunted out to the left - an unfamiliar fit for him.

Hodgson is a huge supporter of the Arsenal midfielder in that role and he’s favoured over his Leicester City counterpart in the bigger picture despite the pair’s wildly contrasting seasons. Drinkwater started 35 league games and, of course, helped his side to Premier League glory, Wishere started one. But Wilshere is almost unique in that England midfield in that he can take the ball under pressure, keep it and move it on. He can also beat a player with that little burst of pace and see a pass. On Friday night he nearly set up Raheem Sterling with a delightful little dinked ball after playing a pass into Jordan Henderson and accelerating on to the lay-off. And, a year ago in Slovenia, he scored twice in a qualifier that felt like a defining moment for Hodgson.

Despite his dire own goal against Australia, Eric Dier is more likely to be on the train that Drinkwater too. The tall, rangy midfielder had a superb season for Spurs and surely has his ticket stamped. As do Jordan Henderson and James Milner due to their energy, versatility and experience.

But Drinkwater needn’t give up hope. He helped create party time with Jamie Vardy for Leicester this season with his instinctive knowledge of the striker’s runs - his over-the-top through balls invariably ended up in the net and Hodgson will not have missed them either.

Travel hopes 3/10

ROSS BARKLEY (Everton, midfielder)

The midfielder was once the great hope of English football but he has been dragged down over the last season by the mediocrity of Everton’s football. There is a wonderful player in there, desperately trying to get out but he has remained locked up far too often this campaign. Eight league goals is not a terrible tally from midfield in a struggling side but Barkley can’t be banked on the way many had hoped he would be by now.

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Rooney rolling back into that advanced midfield role will not have helped Barkley’s cause either nor will his performance as a second-half substitute against Australia on Friday when he was sloppy in possession and didn’t look in the best shape.

But it is easy to forget that Barkley is still only 22 - so long as he been on the scene - and he was a key part of Hodgson’s perfect 10 qualifying campaign chipping in with vital, and not so vital (he got one of six in San Marino), goals. And the England manager, like the proverbial elephant, never forgets which may just be enough to secure Barkley’s passage to Paris.

Travel hopes: 6/10

ANDROS TOWNSEND (Newcastle, midfielder)

There is little doubt that had Townsend seen the season out at Tottenham he would have had no hope of being in France this summer, so far had the winger’s stock fallen following his scrap with the Spurs fitness coach. The 24-year-old had been asked to warm down following another evening spent among the substitutes and took exception. However, the January move to Tyneside saved his season - if not Newcastle’s - and he squeaked into the squad.

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In January, Townsend admitted he “was not thinking about England at all” and Hodgson was probably not thinking about him. But in 13 appearances, in which he scored four times as he attempted to resuscitate his dying club with his pace and direct running, he impressed Hodgson enough for him to move ahead of Theo Walcott.

“Andros was unlucky to lose his place in the squad when he wasn’t getting a regular game [at Tottenham],” Hodgson explained when selecting him in the 26. “Since he has gone to Newcastle he has actually done very well.”

And once again, Roy remembers. Townsend, who was bright when he came on against Australia on Friday, skinning his full-back on one occasion, was vital for England during their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, finding the net in the two crucial victories against Montenegro and Poland in October 2013. He would miss out on Brazil due to injury but the memory clearly lingers. It is hard, however, to feel he has done enough to warrant a spot in this squad and should probably be braced for a shoulder tap.

Travel hopes: 4/10