Squad depth gives Hodgson the headache all coaches want

Saturday 07 Jun 2014
Roy Hodgson is happy with the strength and depth of his squad

Roy Hodgson says the strength of his squad could give him a selection dilemma when he comes to naming his starting eleven for England's World Cup opener.

The Three Lions take on Honduras in Miami on Saturday and it gives the players a last chance to impress on the pitch with a week to go before the big kick-off against Italy.

Hodgson is understandably keeping his cards close to his chest on who will play in Manaus but believes, with the options he has available, whoever he selects will provoke debate.

England v Honduras

World Cup warm-up
Sun Life Stadium Miami
9.45pm (BST), Saturday 7 June 2014
Live on ITV1

"It gives you that headache that all coaches say they want because you don’t just have an eleven and then cover players, you have players that are actually forcing their way into the team and will divide opinion," said Hodgson.

"These days I am pretty certain that when I say this is my eleven for Italy there will be divided opinion because there will be people out there that think x, y or z should have been in that starting team. 

"That is good for a start but more importantly it is going to give us enormous opportunities off the bench to change things around." 

He added: "It is going to be hot and I think most teams are going to be thinking we are not going to get through three times 90 minutes with the same eleven players. 

"We are going to have to make changes – certainly during the game and maybe we will want to make changes from game to game. 

"I believe with this squad that we have got that opportunity. We have got impact players on this occasion."

By Jamie Bradbury FA Editor in Miami