Man Utd defender must be given England chance at centre-back

With just seven months left to prepare for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, England boss Roy Hodgson certainly has his work cut out for him.

The 66-year-old gaffer’s first-choice goalkeeper Joe Hart – who Coral currently rank as the deadest of certs to make the original 23-man squad at 1/33 – is currently being kept out of the Man City team by a giant who’s barely making it into lowly Romania’s national squad.

Beyond Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge, England’s striking ranks are so shorn of quality that West Ham’s Andy Carroll – who’s scored 13 Premier League goals since leaving Newcastle almost three years ago and can’t stay fit – is rated a value bet at 2/1 to be on the plane to Brazil.

Uncapped Southampton wing-forward Jay Rodriguez has been drafted into the squad for the upcoming friendlies at Wembley against Chile – a game that England are 10/11 favourites to win – and European powerhouses Germany.

Rodriguez  – who is 10/1 to make the final squad – will get his chance to impress Hodgson, as will Saints teammate Adam Lallana in midfield.

Lallana has been largely excellent for Mauricio Pochettino’s side this term, chipping in with three Premier League goals plus an assist and hardly putting a foot wrong defensively.

With doubts surrounding the fitness of captain Steven Gerrard and Michael Carrick in midfield, Lallana and Jordan Henderson will be on standby for starting berths against Alexis Sanchez and co.

If reports are true and England’s central-midfield starters in the last qualifier against Poland are ruled out, Hodgson must resist the temptation to play Manchester United’s Phil Jones in the middle of the park and give him a run-out at centre-back instead.

Jones – who is still good value to make the 2014 World Cup squad at 2/5 – has been preferred to Marouane Fellaini and Tom Cleverley in the holding-midfield role by United boss David Moyes in the champions’ last three domestic matches.

The Preston native performed superbly in midfield for the Red Devils in the first half of their 1-0 win against Arsenal, before dropping back at half-time to replace the concussed Nemanja Vidic.

However, United have slightly less pressing concerns at centre-half than the Three Lions’ boss, who’s de facto third-choice in the position – City’s Joleon Lescott – has not even made this squad after tumbling down the Etihad pecking order under Manuel Pellegrini.

Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill partnered up at centre-half for five of their country’s 10 Group H qualifiers and England only conceded once in those matches, but that defensive solidity will be under threat should one or both succumb to injury.

Jones’ versatility may have prevented him from nailing down a fixed starting position for club and country so far in his career, but he is currently the third-choice centre-half in the England squad and should be given a chance to shine there ahead of next summer’s football party.