Clean bill of health for England ahead of Estonia test

Saturday 11 Oct 2014
Roy Hodgson says his team can cope with the short turnaround between games

England manager Roy Hodgson says his players will all be fit and ready to face Estonia on Sunday.

The Three Lions play again just three days after their Wembley win against San Marino.

Hodgson said: “We seem to be OK. There is not a lot of time between the two matches and fortunately we haven't picked up any injuries. 

Estonia v England

European Qualifier Group E
5pm (BST), Sunday 12 October
A Le Coq Arena, Tallinn
Watch live on ITV 

"It's just a question of minor knocks and tiredness after playing 90 minutes and having the ball all the time [against San Marino] .

“It's the same for both teams so we are not complaining. Estonia have two games too and they had to travel away for their first game. 

"This is the new format and we have to come to terms with that. I am confident we will be fresh and ready. 

Hodgson hinted ahead of the San Marino match he might use different players over the two qualifying ties, but is not giving any clues over Sunday's starting line-up.

“All that matters is getting to France 2016 and making sure when we get there we have a competitive team”

Roy Hodgson 

He added: “I haven't spoken to the team yet and until I do that I won't announce the team.

“The team that played [in our first qualifier] against Switzerland made leaving one or two out against San Marino very difficult and the subs who came on at Wembley did exceptionally well.

“That makes [my selection] task harder, but thats how it should be. I would be disappointed if they hadn't given me that potential selection headache.”

Hodgson and England skipper Wayne Rooney were also asked if they had targeted winning all 10 Euro qualifiers

England captain Wayne Rooney shares a joke with team-mates as take a stroll on the pitch in Estonia

The manager said: “It's hard to say if that's realistic. The goal of remaining unbeaten is more realistic. Although it is nice to have these statistics in qualifying, all that matters is getting to France 2016 and making sure when we get there we have a competitive team.”

Rooney is just delighted to be fit and playing. He commented: “I feel fine and I think I've been used to ten years at Man United playing Champions League football and you get into a routine [of two games a week], but it's new to international stage.

“It means less training and less time for the manager to work on things, but players like to play games so it's great.

“We've got pace and a lot of quality and if we use that effectively to break teams down then we will give teams a really hard game.”

See the press conference in full below...

 


By FA Staff