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.

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“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.”