England Manager Roy Hodgson speaks to FATV about his squad selection and Olympic fever.

By Nicholas Veevers

England Manager Roy Hodgson today selected his first squad of the new season, as the Three Lions head to Switzerland for a match against Italy on Wednesday.

Hodgson has named a youthful group for the game in Berne, with six uncapped players included in the shape Jack Butland, John Ruddy, Ryan Bertrand, Steven Caulker, Jake Livermore and Tom Cleverley, whilst there are also recalls for the likes of Michael Carrick, Frank Lampard and Jack Rodwell.

"It was always the intention for this squad to make certain that we give some of the younger players and the players for the future a chance to get themselves known by the new England Manager and the coaching staff," Hodgson told FATV after naming his squad.

"So there's nine young players in the squad, but there's also a good balance with a lot of players who would have been at the Euros had it not been for injury.

"And then there are people like Michael Carrick coming back and we've still got the nucleus of players that were with us over there so there's still quite a big group of players who perhaps didn't get the chance to show what they can do.

"It's interesting for me to have a look at these players, albeit only for a few days."

Hodgson was also keen to re-iterate the importance of this match in the international fixture calendar, with World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine on the near horizon in just a few weeks.

With the Premier League season starting just a few days after this trip, it's undoubtedly frustrating for the clubs which is something Hodgson knows only too well himself, but it's also a game in the fixture calendar which all of England's international rivals will be taking advantage of.

"It's not just important for England, it's also important for the other 79 nations playing that evening as well," he added.

"There are very few nations who aren't in action and 95 per cent of the teams do, so it's natural that we play.

"We have given one or two of the players a rest, the Senior players whose position in the squad is in no doubt whatsoever so that gives a chance to one or two of the new players to stake their claim and show that I should be considering them as well.

"I can understand the club managers preferring there to be no matches at this time, but unfortunately it's a FIFA date."

Watch the full interview with Roy above, or by clicking the link to the right