HODGSON NOT WORRIED

England manager Roy Hodgson has said that he is certainly not worried about the fitness of captain Steven Gerrard ahead of the crucial match with Sweden at the Euro 2012.

England only managed a 1-1 draw with France in the opening group game. Steven Gerrard was extremely influential in the match after he was responsible for the goal scored by Joleon Lescott in the first half. Even though France equalised through Samir Nasri, England were praised for their hardfought display that was reminiscent of the way Chelsea won the Champions League this season. After the match, there was certain doubts that Steven Gerrard would be unable to make it into the Sweden game due to the exertions from the France match.

Hodgson has confirmed to Liverpool news website that Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker are not 100% at the moment, but he has said that both will be most likely to make it to the Sweden game. Due to the absence of Frank Lampard, the presence of Steven Gerrard in the midfield becomes even more important. However, due to the fact that both players are over the age of 30, their recovery times are much less than younger players according to Roy Hodgson.

“Scott’s 31 and Steven 32, we’re not talking about old players. Certainly Sweden have players considerably older than our team and I think I heard that we are the third youngest squad in the tournament. Age doesn’t bother me, obviously when you go into the third game you are going to be concerned for all your players, not just Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker. You’re going to be concerned for them all whatever age they are because three games played in Ukraine in heat takes it out of everybody,” said Roy Hodgson after the 1-1 draw with France.