Thursday 2 June 2016 08:38, UK
Roy Hodgson says the players omitted from the England squad for Euro 2016 accepted his decision in an "unbelievably professional" fashion.
The England boss added that leaving out Leicester midfielder Danny Drinkwater and Newcastle wide man Andros Townsend was not an easy call but that the duo missed out due to the decision to take an extra forward.
England whittled their squad down from 26 to 23 on Tuesday and Drinkwater and Townsend were the men who failed to make the cut, Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph having already been ruled out due to injury.
Hodgson has opted for an attacking squad and five forwards have been selected, including the exciting Manchester United youngster Marcus Rashford.
"It was a very difficult decision," said Hodgson on Wednesday. "For a long period of time, if anything, we haven't had an enormous amount of choice. Sometimes there have been comments that we don't have enough to pick from.
"Suddenly, we do have a lot of players to pick from and it was a very tough decision for me. I was very happy with the 26, and delighted with the way the three guys who didn't get selected for the final 23 worked.
"Yesterday was a difficult day for me, having to tell them that they weren't going to be in the final 23, but I must say the players were fantastic.
"They were unbelievably understanding of the need I had to make a decision. They were unbelievably disciplined and professional about the whole thing and, of course, they ended by wishing everybody well and saying they had enjoyed the preparation time.
"They made the job as easy for me as it could possibly be.
"It was still a tough one but I am satisfied I have now got the 23 players I want to take and we can settle down now and focus on the task ahead."
The 18-year-old Rashford has burst onto the scene this season and only made his England debut last Friday, scoring within minutes of kick-off in a 2-1 win over Australia.
"Rashford has had that fantastic end to the season and he is a very, very interesting player" said Hodgson. "He has special qualities, I think that has been recognised by everyone.
"It will be very interesting to see whether he can bring those qualities to bear at an even higher level."
Regarding the make-up of his squad, he added: "The balance is good. If anything it is tilted towards an offensive approach but that is because we believe we have some players in midfield and in attack who are really good quality players.
"I did not want to sacrifice them to shore up with players who maybe might cover positions slightly better but maybe don't have the qualities of the players I would be leaving out.
"Often in a tournament, the players who get injured or suffer from a lack of form are the players at the cutting end of the business, the guys who have to score the goals or make the goals.
"So it is quite nice we have a slightly bigger option available to us in that area than at the back, where we have only taken seven defenders."
Drinkwater may consider himself unlucky not to have been picked, having been outstanding all season for Premier League champions Leicester.
"Danny was a tough one to leave out, he has had a very good season," said Hodgson. "We were very happy with the work he did for us.
"But, as far as we are concerned, if you look back over the two years we have been working together as a team, on the principles of our team play, and to some extent he was the last man 'in', in that respect.
"We were happy with him and it simply became a question, and the same with Andros, of 'do I take the extra attacker or do I take the extra midfielder?' and we decided we go for the extra attacker.
"That is how Rashford got included and, had he not gone, one of the other two would have gone."
England won all of their matches in qualifying for Euro 2016 and Hodgson was keen to stress how much talent he believes he has at his disposal ahead of the tournament.
"Systems win you nothing, football players win you games," he added. "We think we have got a lot of good quality football players travelling with us.
"I believe, if they perform anything like the level they are capable of performing, we are going to be a hard team to beat."
