Hodgson praises omitted duo

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 …

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