England v Chile: Ashley Cole not an automatic choice for England now, says Roy Hodgson, with Leighton Baines pushing for place

Chelsea defender under pressure from Leighton Baines for left-back spot

Sam Wallace
Thursday 14 November 2013 21:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Roy Hodgson has indicated that the competition between Ashley Cole and Leighton Baines to be England's No 1 left-back is wide open, after 12 years of the Chelsea man having dominated the position in the team when fit.

Cole will win his 106th cap if he plays some part against Chile at Wembley, but he was described by the England manager only as a "potential" left-back, having missed the two final World Cup qualifiers last month through injury. Baines took his place for those games against Montenegro and Poland, and Hodgson said that he had not decided which of the pair would play in the game and which would feature on Tuesday against Germany.

On Cole, who has been left out of Chelsea's last two games, Hodgson said that he believed the 32-year-old had performed "perfectly well" on the occasions he had seen him play. "It's not for me to pick Chelsea's team," he added. "Jose [Mourinho] has competition for places and has to make decisions. From an England perspective, I'm still very happy to consider Ashley Cole as a potential English left-back.

"But as you know, and have known for some time, the competition for that spot is particularly fierce because Baines is also playing well and on top of that we have Kieran Gibbs and Luke Shaw, two younger players but who I think can definitely put these more senior ones under some pressure. I would definitely not be concerned, if there were no Ashley Cole or Leighton Baines, about Gibbs or Shaw playing."

Hodgson would not disclose his line-up for the Chile match, although he confirmed that in the absence of the injured Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard would captain the team to mark his 100th cap. He will be presented with a golden cap to commemorate the achievement – reached against Ukraine in September – by Sir Geoff Hurst and his father, Frank senior.

Joe Hart will not play, with the likelihood that John Ruddy will make his first start in goal for England. Hodgson also said that the Southampton pair of Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez will play some part in the game, although he would not confirm whether they would start the match. Rickie Lambert, Daniel Sturridge and Kyle Walker will miss the game through injury in the hope that they will recover for Tuesday.

Hodgson said: "I'm not trying to play down the importance of winning games because it's always important to keep unbeaten runs going, but I'm not going to do it if it will be to the detriment of having a look at some players."

Four to watch Chile's danger men at Wembley

Claudio Bravo The Real Sociedad keeper captains the national side and shone against Manchester United last week.

Gary Medel Small and stocky, the Cardiff utility man has made an impressive start to life in the Premier League.

Matias Fernandez Fiorentina midfielder provides a goal threat with his tricky feet and ability from set pieces.

Alexis Sanchez Versatile Barcelona forward has finally come good at the Nou Camp and will lead Chile's attack.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in