England boss Roy Hodgson insists that there is no deal in
place with Arsenal over Jack Wilshere, ahead of the World Cup qualifiers with
Moldova and Ukraine next month.
Arsene Wenger is still looking for Wilshere to be treated
carefully given his recent injury record and Arsenal rested him for their
Premier League win at Fulham over the weekend, but he did play 90 minutes in
their Champions League win over Fenerbahce on Tuesday.
Wenger had intimated that Wilshere could be rested for
England's clash with Moldova at Wembley next Friday night, before the possible
Group H decider with Ukraine in Kiev the following Tuesday.
But Hodgson says that he is free to use Wilshere as he
sees fit and that, despite talking regularly with Wenger, there is no agreement
about whether he should have his playing time limited.
"I speak to Arsene quite regularly and he's not said
anything to me about it," said Hodgson.
"I speak to Arsene quite regularly and he's not said
anything to me about it."
"As far as I am concerned, he fully realises that
Jack Wilshere is an integral and important part of the England team.
"We play four days apart and he expects him to play
his part."
Hodgson does have a plan in mind for the double-header
though, even though there are many domestic and European fixtures that need to
be played before he has a clear picture of who will be available from the
27-man squad he unveiled at Wembley on Tuesday.
"It would be foolish to talk about line-ups for the
Ukraine game before we've played Moldova," he said.
"I do have a pretty clear idea of what my intended
starting XI will be. I've been building up to it.
"There are players who have come onto the scene very
late who will have to work very hard to break into that starting XI.
"I'm sure they understand that without needing to be
told. But the reason for picking 27 players is twofold; there are a lot of
games to be played before they meet up, and also we've got a good time
together.
"That means it's a useful time for me to see these
players because after these two games, there will be two more games and
hopefully more after that."
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