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Roy Hodgson today hit out at training ground “espionage” predicting his England team for Friday’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania and claims Harry Kane is not guaranteed to start.
Photographers watching Kane’s first training session with the senior squad yesterday took pictures of a scrap of paper with a team line-up on it which partnered Kane in attack with captain Wayne Rooney.
Andros Townsend, Ross Barkley, Ryan Mason and Theo Walcott were included in a four-man midfield ahead of centre-backs Phil Jones and Chris Smalling for an attacking drill and although the media were entitled to watch as part of an open training session, Hodgson was furious assumptions about Friday’s line-up have been made.
"That is dangerous to do that (assume Kane will start),” Hodgson said. “First of all it is dangerous to spy on those things at a training session. The fact is that the piece of paper is a piece of paper we take out to training because we have to select teams.
England squad - March 2015
“I don't think it's right to suggest that in order to avoid this type of espionage I have to remember everything I have thought about but we change people around quite often.
“If that is what people want to read into the espionage that is up to them but I hope they are not going to come and blame me if I don't start with Kane and Rooney and say 'we had it on your piece of paper' because they shouldn't be looking at it in the first place.”
