Roy Hodgson ready to relax injury rules as Welbeck battles to be fit

England manager Roy Hodgson has indicated that he may be prepared to make an exception to his plan not to take injured players to Euro 2012 in order to squeeze Danny Welbeck into his squad.

The Manchester United forward has not played a competitive match since 30 April, when he sustained an ankle injury in a challenge with Nigel de Jong during the key Barclays Premier League defeat by Manchester City.

Welbeck carried on having intensive treatment after the domestic campaign drew to a close, but has only been able to do light training sessions and has no chance of being involved in England’s friendly with Norway tonight.

Hodgson has previously stated his preference not to select injured players for the finals in Poland and Ukraine this summer and has Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge on standby in case Welbeck fails to make it. However, Hodgson has now suggested he may be willing to bend his own rules, even though there is a long list of England managers who have picked players for major tournaments despite fitness doubts and been forced to regret it.

“We didn’t want to take anyone who wasn’t 100 per cent,” said Hodgson. “But given the shortage of front players we have and the fact Wayne Rooney can’t play until the third game, if we are going to make any allowances whatsoever, it would be for a forward. Danny’s injury has cleared up less quickly than we would have hoped.

“I fully expect to name him in the squad but, on the other hand, it could be that he might still not be capable of taking part in all the training sessions next week. But the doctor, Ian Beasley, is telling me he doesn’t think there is a major problem.”

The news surrounding Scott Parker and Glen Johnson is more optimistic. Parker has shown no ill effects from the injection he had in his Achilles injury last week, while Johnson’s toe problem is being described as “an irritant” by the new England manager. Like Welbeck, Johnson will not be involved this evening.

Parker will, though, in a team captained by Steven Gerrard and including Robert Green in goal, his first cap since that disastrous mistake against the United States during the opening World Cup game in South Africa two years ago.

Leighton Baines and Phil Jones will occupy the full-back spots, while Liverpool striker Andy Carroll gets a berth, further recognition of his superb performances in the latter weeks of the campaign. It promises to be a significant test, although given it will be his own first game in charge, Hodgson was not in the mood for sentiment.

“It will be a very proud moment,” he said. “But I don’t want to make comparisons because I have had some proud moments walking out with other teams as well. I am excited. Nervous? I don’t know.

“I am more eager to see what some of these players can do. I am in a learning stage. I don’t have an awful lot of time to work out what a starting XI is going to look like and tomorrow will be a very important step, as will the game the week after at Wembley. My plan is to give as many players a game at some point over these next two matches to at least give me a chance of picking the team for France.”

Hodgson shrugged off the statistic of the previous seven new England managers winning their first games in charge and was equally dismissive of the proud record of Norway coach Egil Olsen, who has never lost in four meetings with the Three Lions.

“I would be much happier if you could guarantee me I would win the first game in the European Championships,” he said. “That would please me much more.”

On a more serious note, Hodgson expressed his sadness that the families of both Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have opted not to travel to Ukraine due to fears of racism. “It is sad some of the families are not going,” he said. “These matters are totally and utterly out of our control. We can only have faith and trust in Uefa that they are aware of these problems, particularly in Ukraine, and we can only hope they can solve them. I don’t expect my players to suffer racist abuse because I prefer to remain optimistic. If it is particularly bad, it is not just our black players, it is other countries as well. We will be in a boat – we can only hope the captain steers it properly.”

Skipper Gerrard believes revitalised striker Andy Carroll can terrorise opposing defences during Euro 2012 if he repeats the end-of-season-form shown at Liverpool. Carroll has been thrust to the forefront of England’s attacking options with Rooney suspended for the first two games, Darren Bent out through injury and Welbeck struggling to be fit. He has failed to live up to his £35 million price tag since moving from Newcastle 16 months ago, but will now lead the England attack. Gerrard is backing him to shine, saying: “He looks awesome at the moment. Towards the end of the season, he was getting better and better for Liverpool.

“He was becoming unplayable, he is looking sharp and lean and if he can take his form from the end of the season into these England games, he will be a big plus to this team. Defences will find it very difficult to play against Andy Carroll in this tournament in that sort of form.

“What has turned things around? You will have to ask Andy, but he moved from Newcastle to Liverpool for £35 million, he is 21 years of age. As a footballer, it is a massive move. It is going to take time for him to settle and get used to the surroundings and his team-mates and play through the pressure of being a £35 million player.

“It was always going to take time but the signs are good. It looks as if he is starting to show why Liverpool spent all that money on him and now hopefully England will benefit this summer.”

Gerrard also has no doubts about the pedigree of Hodgson despite working under him during a difficult eight-month spell at Liverpool which culminated in him being sacked.

He said: “Roy took the Liverpool job in very difficult circumstances because the majority of our fans wanted Kenny (Dalglish) to be the manager. From day one, Roy had a very tough job, but I can assure everyone he is a really good manager.

“I worked with him day in and day out and he is a winner. He makes his sides difficult to beat and I’m really confident he can have a successful time as England manager. Of course, it is going to take a bit of time for everyone to get used to him and his way of doing things. But I’ve got total confidence in Roy Hodgson and his methods and I like the way he sets his sides up. He likes teams to play with a high tempo, doesn’t like them to concede goals.”