Hodgson content his remaining strikers need no reinforcement

Carroll pulled out with a hamstring injury sustained during his West Ham debut against Fulham on Saturday.

Hodgson waited until after yesterday’s matches before deciding whether to add to his squad but instead will stick with the remaining 23 members, who will report for duty at Watford today.

It means England will have only three orthodox forwards; Danny Welbeck, Jermain Defoe and Daniel Sturridge as Wayne Rooney has been ruled out with a gashed thigh.

There had been some speculation Darren Bent, Peter Crouch or even Bobby Zamora could be drafted in for Friday’s game in Chisnau.

However, Hodgson presumably feels there is sufficient flexibility in his squad already, with Arsenal duo Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose fitness has been confirmed despite suffering a minor knock in the win at Liverpool yesterday, plus Steven Gerrard all capable of operating in an advanced role if required.

Gerrard’s inclusion in the squad, along with that of John Terry and Frank Lampard, underscored Hodgson has no intention of suffering the same chastening experience as Andre Villas-Boas by ditching his old guard.

Lampard will be 36 when the finals tournament gets under way in Brazil, and Terry and Gerrard will be 33 and 34 respectively.

But Hodgson is not interested in numbers. All he cares about are performances. And having seen how Villas-Boas made such a mess with pre-conceived ideas during his ill-fated spell at Chelsea, he is not prepared to write anyone off, pointing out that Terry and Lampard were players who eventually helped Chelsea win the Champions League.

“I want to win football matches and I won’t be prepared to throw players of that quality away from the national team until I am sure there are much better players to take their place,” said Hodgson.

“That’s not happening at their clubs at the moment.

“They are not only features but are very important members of their club teams and when they don’t play their club teams miss them enormously.”

Hodgson is determined to deal with issues as he sees them, rather than act on the advice of others.

He would therefore be prepared to pair Lampard and Gerrard together in central midfield even though predecessors Sven Goran Eriksson, Steve McClaren and Fabio Capello all tried – and failed – to get the most out of both men in the same team.

“I don’t see obstacles,” he said.

“I’m not going to be affected by past judgments of them playing together.

“I’ll make my own (decisions) and then decide whether the past judgments are correct.”

Although Terry still has a Football Association charge hanging over him following his altercation with Anton Ferdinand at Loftus Road last October, it should have come as no surprise Hodgson instantly brought him back into the England fold despite a recent neck injury. “Some people criticise him, some champion him,” said Hodgson. “I have no interest in that debate.

“I’m told I can pick the team I want to pick, he is available to be selected. The other aspect of things will take its course and has no influence at all in my thinking.”

Neither, evidently, is Hodgson prepared to lay down guidelines for how many matches individual players must start before they can be considered for international selection.

After signing for Sunderland this last Adam Johnson claimed retaining an England place was part of his thinking.

Andy Carroll’s move to West Ham should also help.

However, Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge are just two of the players who will struggle to gain a regular Premier League place at Manchester United and Chelsea respectively.

It is not an ideal situation for Hodgson, either in the long-term and the short-term, given Wayne Rooney is sidelined for the forthcoming fixtures.

“I intend to be pragmatic about this,” said Hodgson.

“Of course I would prefer players to be regular members of their club teams.

“But if I’m picking these type of players who are 21 and competing with world stars, I might just have to accept they won’t be playing every week because their coach prefers Fernando Torres, Sergio Aguero or Robin van Persie.”

England squad:

Butland (Birmingham), Hart (Man City), Ruddy (Norwich); Baines (Everton), Bertrand (Chelsea), Cahill (Chelsea), Cole (Chelsea), Jagielka (Everton), G Johnson (Liverpool), Lescott (Man City), Terry (Chelsea), Walker (Tottenham); Carrick (Man Utd), Cleverley (Man Utd), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Gerrard (Liverpool), A Johnson (Sunderland), Lampard (Chelsea), Milner (Man City), Walcott (Arsenal); Defoe (Tottenham), Sturridge (Chelsea), Welbeck (Man Utd).