Hodgson offers Arsenal crock Wilshere Euros hope

England coach Roy Hodgson won't write off Arsenal crock Jack Wilshere's Euro chances.

The 23-year-old broke a fibula in August but was expected to return to training following September's international break.

But he suffered a huge setback after discovering he needed to have an operation to have a plate inserted in his leg.

Hodgson, in an interview with Sky Sports News HQ, said: "Yes he absolutely is (an important player for England).

"I remember when I took the job and discussing the potential players and squad with Sir Trevor Brooking, because I obviously had to put a squad together at fairly short notice and we were discussing all the players.

"One of the players that Sir Trevor said for him would be one of the most important players going forward was Jack Wilshere and of course he'd only just really broken into the Arsenal team and made a couple of England appearances under Fabio Capello.

"So I was excited to see him, but I had to wait a long time. And then of course having realised that what Sir Trevor said was absolutely true, that this is a player with exceptional talent and could be very, very useful for us in our quest to put a team together.

"Again, we've been a bit unlucky that more often than not he hasn't been available.

"But I haven't given up hope that he'll get over the broken leg. Broken legs, they do take time to heel, but I'm really hopefully he'll get over that and in the New Year we'll see him playing regularly again.

"If that happens he's definitely going to be an important figure for us because the type of talent he has is a rare talent."

England boss Roy Hodgson gives Jack Wilshere a Euro 2016 boost

ROY HODGSON has handed Jack Wilshere's Euro 2016 dream a huge boost.

Arsenal star Wilshere is recovering from a broken leg that has devastated his season.

The 23-year-old broke a fibula in August but was expected to return to training following September's international break.

But he suffered a huge setback after discovering he needed to have an operation to have a plate inserted in his leg.

While stuck on the sidelines, Wilshere has seen the likes of Dele Ali and Eric Dier handed their England debuts and the chance to stake a claim for a place in Hodgson's squad for next summer's finals in France.

Wilshere has been left sweating over his chances of making Hodgson's squad, but the Three Lions boss has told him he hasn't been forgotten and is still a major part of his plans provided he can get fit and stay fit.

Hodgson, in an interview with Sky Sports News HQ, said: "Yes he absolutely is (an important player for England).

"I remember when I took the job and discussing the potential players and squad with Sir Trevor Brooking, because I obviously had to put a squad together at fairly short notice and we were discussing all the players.

"One of the players that Sir Trevor said for him would be one of the most important players going forward was Jack Wilshere and of course he'd only just really broken into the Arsenal team and made a couple of England appearances under Fabio Capello.

"So I was excited to see him, but I had to wait a long time. And then of course having realised that what Sir Trevor said was absolutely true, that this is a player with exceptional talent and could be very, very useful for us in our quest to put a team together.

"Again, we've been a bit unlucky that more often than not he hasn't been available.

"But I haven't given up hope that he'll get over the broken leg. Broken legs, they do take time to heel, but I'm really hopefully he'll get over that and in the New Year we'll see him playing regularly again.

"If that happens he's definitely going to be an important figure for us because the type of talent he has is a rare talent."

Ian Wright sends message to Jack Wilshere on Twitter

Arsenal and England international midfielder Jack Wilshere is injured at the moment.

Ian Wright has taken to social networking site Twitter to urge Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere to recover from his injury quickly.

Wilshere is on the sidelines at the moment, having fractured an ankle in training in August and then undergoing surgery.

The 23-year-old is a very talented midfielder and has lots of potential, but his career has been disrupted by injuries.

Wilshere should be part of the England squad for the Euro 2016 finals if he is fully fit next summer, and former Arsenal striker Wright seems to suggest on Twitter that he wants his compatriot to feature for the Three Lions next summer.

England will not be one of the favourites to win the European Championship next summer, but Roy Hodgson’s side should be looking to progress to the quarter-finals at least.

Wilshere will not be guaranteed a place in the England starting lineup, but he will certainly be an important player for the team.

Arsenal midfielder dines with girlfriend

The midfielder was pictured heading for dinner with his girlfriend Andriani Michael on Friday, October 9.

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere is currently injured and seems to be spending his time away from football with his girlfriend.

The midfielder was pictured heading for dinner with his girlfriend Andriani Michael on Friday, October 9.

The 23-year-old who underwent surgery last month to properly correct a hairline fracture in his left fibula was wearing a protective boot as his three-month rehabilitation process continues.

Wilshere and his girlfriend in Dubai (Instagram/Jack Wilshere)

Andriana is the daughter of Wilshere's barber. Wilshere spent his holidays with Andriani in Dubai.

Wilshere has two children from his ex-girlfriend Lauren Neal.

Archie Jack Wilshere was born in September 2011 while their second child, Delilah Grace Wilshere was born in the same month in 2013.

Jack Wilshere pictured in Mayfair with girlfriend Adriana Michael as Arsenal midfielder continues recovery from broken leg

The England star, who hasn't played yet this season, had surgery on his left fibula last month and is facing a lengthy lay-off

Jack Wilshere was spotted in Mayfair alongside girlfriend Adriana Michael as he steps up his recovery from the broken leg which has kept him sidelined this season.

The Arsenal midfielder took Adriana, who he has been dating since earlier this year, to dinner at the popular Roka restaurant.

Wilshere, 23, underwent surgery in September on a hairline fracture of his left fibula.

He won't be back in action until at least December and may not play competitively again until the new year.

In August Arsene Wenger admitted he played Wilshere "too often" when he was younger.

Crocked: Wilshere sported a protective boot on his night out

Stern: The Gunners midfielder looked stony-faced alongside girlfriend Adriana

“I always bring him back when he says he is ready and when the fitness coaches say he has the quantity of work behind," Wenger said.

“Maybe when he was younger we overplayed him because he was such a good player but now we are cautious with him.”

Wilshere's last competitive match for Arsenal was the 4-0 drubbing of Aston Villa in the FA Cup final in May

Wilshere is one of six players currently on Arsenal's treatment table, with Tomas Rosicky and Danny Welbeck also nursing long-term injuries.

Mathieu Flamini, Mikel Arteta and Laurent Koscielny are all also currently sidelined with minor injuries.

Wilshere poses with the cup: he certainly enjoyed the celebrations

England's perfect 10 after 'ZERO' in Brazil

Hodgson lauds unbeaten Euros campaign, lines up tough friendlies with France, Spain

VILNIUS (Lithuania) • Roy Hodgson claimed that he always believed England would recover from their toils at the World Cup to progress unbeaten to next summer's European Championship as his side completed a perfect qualifying record on a night marred by crowd trouble in Lithuania.

Fighting broke out before the national anthems when locals took exception to the large number of England fans who had bought tickets in Vilnius for the designated home end. Riot police intervened, forming a cordon between the supporters and penning the Lithuanian fans into the corner of the end behind Jack Butland's goal, only for trouble to flare again when Ross Barkley opened the scoring.

Police sprayed the home fans with water to force them back.

The tension eased, with England far from flustered on the pitch as they ran out comfortable 3-0 winners - with an own goal from Giedrius Arlauskis and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's effort settling proceedings.

England are the sixth team to achieve 100 per cent success in a European Championship qualifying campaign, winning all 10 games in Group E, scoring 31 goals and conceding only three.

NEXT STEP FORWARD

It would have been a surprise if we had not qualified. But the friendlies are against better, stronger opposition sides. We'll see how we deal with that.

ROY HODGSON, England manager

While they have not confronted particularly daunting opponents, Hodgson welcomed the recovery from the ignominy of Brazil, where they exited at the group stage.

"I did believe the team could go unbeaten," he said. "I'm not trying to change perception of the World Cup because we didn't get out of the group, lost the first two games and that finished us off.

• Three Lions' three talking points

• Spain, France friendlies better gauge of progress
  Roy Hodgson's side made history in Vilnius by ensuring they won all 10 of their qualifiers to secure passage to the European Championship with a pristine record for the first time.
  Yet what did that actually prove?
  The manager put the winning sequence into context by suggesting he may learn far more from the prestige friendlies against Spain and France next month.
  England are just the sixth team to achieve a 100 per cent record in qualifying and only two of those - Spain and Germany, the winners and semi-finalists at Euro 2012 - went on to make a real impact in the tournament proper.
  The worry for Hodgson is that his own developing team are more likely to emulate France and the Czech Republic, at Euro '92 and Euro 2000 respectively, by failing to emerge from their group at the finals.
  Final qualifier was audition for best of back-ups
  This side was very much a reserve line-up, boasting a combined 140 caps before kick-off and an average age of 24.7. The involvement of Kyle Walker, Jack Butland and Danny Ings swelled the number of players used in the qualifying campaign to 33.
  Quite how many would be in contention if the walking wounded were restored to fitness remains to be seen.
  The regular back-line were resting. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Adam Lallana are favourites of the manager. The former scored while the Liverpool player's fine touch helped conjure the second goal. Ross Barkley glided through the contest impressively enough.
  But if Jack Wilshere, Jordan Henderson and James Milner are fit, they would presumably be Hodgson's preferred midfield trio.
  This was an audition to determine who should be considered the best of the back-ups.
  Shelvey deserves another chance against Spain
  So how does one make a proper judgment on Jonjo Shelvey's prowess at this level, having seen him confronted by opponents of this standard?
  Lithuania offered so little thrust through the centre that the Swansea midfielder could afford to stroll around, picking up loose balls and distributing possession without ever feeling flustered.
  Yet, on the basis that Wilshere and Michael Carrick have proved particularly injury-prone, Shelvey might imagine he can play that deep-lying role Hodgson so favours when Euro 2016 begins.
  The worry is that better opponents might flood through a midfield this forward-thinking, so Hodgson should offer the 23-year-old another run-out against the Spanish to see how he copes when quality players gallop at him.

• THE GUARDIAN

"But I felt it could be an experience which serves us in the future because we never want it to happen again.

"Targeting going unbeaten was a big goal to set but something in me said we had good players here, and we're not dependent upon just 11."

Hodgson, whose opposite number Igoris Pankratjevas resigned after the match, praised the scoring contribution and continued development of Barkley in a radically altered team to the side who beat Estonia on Friday.

Hodgson hopes to learn more about his squad's development since the World Cup in next month's friendlies against Spain and France.

"We will use those games to learn where we are," he said.

"If we concentrate and play properly, we can do well.

"It would have been a surprise if we had not qualified. But the friendlies are against better, stronger opposition sides. We'll see how we deal with that."

Everton defender Phil Jagielka, who captained England in the absence of Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart and Gary Cahill, is also looking forward to the opportunity to see how England measure up to some of Europe's elite.

"We have chosen some really tough friendlies. It will be hard games but we will try to prove ourselves," he said.

"The gameplan from day one was to win all 10 games and we have done it. We have good youth coming through and, hopefully, if we can nurture it, we could have something special."

Tottenham teenager Dele Alli was a substitute on Monday and now has almost as many England caps (two) as starts in the English Premier League (four).

THE GUARDIAN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

England boss Roy Hodgson warns clubs AND players over pull-outs from vital Euro 2016 friendlies

Manager not in the mood to give in to requests to rest stars for clashes with Spain, France, Germany and Holland that will show how good his team really is

My way or the highway: Players will be risking places in Hodgson's final squad if they miss a friendly

Roy Hodgson will get tough with club managers in the build-up to Euro 2016 - and has also issued a stern warning to his England players.

Hodgson is determined to stand firm over the next four friendlies in the build-up to next summer’s finals and if selected players do not report then they could face missing out.

Three Lions manager Hodgson has already spelt out that message to his squad because he is fed-up with the high number of withdrawals and requests over friendlies because of the demands from clubs.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart and centre-half Gary Cahill did not travel to Lithuania for Monday's final qualifier as they were carrying knocks, but even Southampton asked for full-back Ryan Bertrand not to be played on the plastic pitch in Vilnius.

The warning was backed up by Everton defender Phil Jagielka, who says Hodgson must be more “selfish” when picking players for the forthcoming high-profile friendlies with Spain and France in November and Germany and Holland in March.

In pictures — England beat Lithuania to complete 100% group stage:

Centre-half Jagielka, who captained the side on Monday, said: “If we don’t look to pick strong teams, the friendlies are pointless. If we pick strong teams, then we probably put ourselves under a bit of pressure.

“Roy is on record saying he’s not going with the same sort of experimental team this time. He’ll probably play his strongest team and if not pretty close to it in the games with Spain and France next month.

“That should give you a good idea of how he is looking at these friendlies and how we go about it.

“I think the Chile and Germany games before the last World Cup, he went half-and-half on the Friday and Tuesday nights, probably trying to appease club managers and look at players and things like that.

We are the champions: England play Spain in Alicante on November 13

We are the champions too: World Cup holders Germany host England on March 26

“But maybe this time the manager is going to be a little bit more selfish and plan for the Euros in France next summer — even before Christmas.

“We need to go out and play well and use the formula and game plans we have been putting together during this qualifying campaign, then see how it stacks up against the so-called better teams of Europe.

“Hopefully we play well in those games and it gives us a bit more confidence looking forward to boarding the plane to France.”