LONDON: Roy Hodgson’s insistence that England would  not repeat the mistakes of earlier tournaments and gamble on the uncertain fitness of any of their players means no Euro 2012 for Gareth  Barry writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

The Manchester City  suffered a groin injury soon after appearing as a substitute in England’s 1-0 win over Norway in Oslo on Saturday.

Barry’s fitness had also been a problem ahead of the 2010 World Cup but Hodgson’s predecesson, Fabio Capello, decided to take him and not Scott Parker. Barry struggled badly, partly fit, in the second round defeat by Germany.

Hodgson has filled the gap by calling up Everton’s Phil Jagielka who impressed in the centre of defence against Norway after being  ‘only’ on the standby list. This means Manchester United’s Phil Jones now being assessed as a defensive midfielder.

Better news for Hodgson over the weekend was the success of the Andy Carroll/Ashley Young strike partnership which he is ready to use against France in Donetsk on June 11. Hodgson is an advocate of 4-4-2 but, in any case, he sees this as the ideal England system because of the manner in which Wayne Rooney likes to operate, just behind a main striker.

This is the role Rooney’s Manchester United team-mate Young took up on Saturday and from which he scored the winning goal.

Hodgson is looking beyond Euro 2012, to the 2014 World Cup. He said: “Two strikers will be the way forward during my time with England because we have Rooney.

“We don’t have him for the first two matches at the Euros but that is a temporary thing. There is a lot of football to be played after the Euros and when you have a player like Rooney, who is excellent in that position, it would seem a bit strange if we just went to one lone forward.”

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