Roy Hodgson is set to offer Jack Wilshere and Dele Alli starts in England’s friendly against Turkey on Sunday, and is encouraged by Jordan Henderson’s eagerness to prove he will be fit to feature at the European Championship.
Alli missed the last three games of Tottenham Hotspur’s season through suspension after the Football Association revisited video footage of his clash with Claudio Yacob of West Bromwich Albion last month. The 20-year-old opted against contesting a violent conduct charge for punching his opponent in the stomach, an incident that was not witnessed by the referee, Mike Jones, at the time.
Sunday’s involvement at the Etihad Stadium will therefore be Alli’s first action in almost a month, with Wilshere another in need of game-time. The Arsenal midfielder has made only three first-team appearances this season after injury, with the 68 minutes he played against Aston Villa on the final afternoon constituting his only start of the club’s campaign. Fitness permitting, the pair are expected to play in a midfield diamond that has Eric Dier at its base and Ross Barkley as the playmaker at its tip. That will allow Hodgson to partner Harry Kane with Jamie Vardy up front.
Players from the FA Cup finalists Manchester United and those who appeared for Liverpool in the Europa League final are not under consideration, but Henderson, who played 26 minutes for Liverpool at the Hawthorns on Sunday, joined the squad at St George’s Park on Thursday. He trained on Friday as he attempts to show Hodgson he is worthy of inclusion in the 23-man squad for the tournament in France having recovered from the knee ligament injury sustained at Borussia Dortmund in early April.
