Five Players Who Hodgson Could Experiment With

With England’s qualification for next summer’s European Championship in France secured, Roy Hodgson may now turn his attentions to young players who he feels could make the step up. With friendlies against France, Spain and Holland to come, The Sports Lowdown look at five young players who could be given a chance to shine in international football ahead of the tournament.

James Ward-Prowse

England currently have a solid group of central midfielders, with Michael Carrick, Dele Alli and James Milner playing in the middle of the park in England’s final qualifiers. They also have Jack Wilshere and Jordan Henderson to come back from injury, meaning as it stands England can consider themselves to have plenty of strength in depth in the engine room.

However, should Hodgson decide he would like to give someone different a chance to shine in midfield, James Ward-Prowse may be in line for a call-up. The Southampton starlet has established himself as a key player in Ronald Koeman’s side and has been one of the England Under-21’s best performers in recent years, having represented them 16 times.

England are currently a lacking a set-piece expert, and Ward-Prowse would certainly help out in that department. He has built up a reputation for being deadly at free-kicks, and has even been compared to David Beckham due to his ability from a dead ball situation. While Ward-Prowse has only ever scored one Premier League goal his maturity and ability to see a pass have not gone unnoticed.

While England do have plenty of options in central midfield, it remains to be seen how much playing time Alli will get at Tottenham, while Henderson and Wilshere will both have to prove their fitness before the tournament starts, meaning Ward-Prowse could yet get his chance to star in an England shirt before Euro 2016.