England manager Roy Hodgson has given his full backing to Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere and he expects big things from the 21-year-old at next year’s World Cup, but only if he gets back into his club’s first-team.
Wilshere has come under a lot of pressure this season after his return from a long-term injury and due to the signing of Mesut Ozil and the improvement of Aaron Ramsey, the midfielder’s place in the starting XI is not as guaranteed as it once was.
So far this season, the 21-year-old has only completed eight of Arsenal’s 19 matches and this is something that is bothering his progression, according to Hodgson.
“One thing Jack has mentioned (to me) recently has been that he has had a lack of 90-minute match practice and he obviously feels that he needs a few more games under his belt,” said Hodgson.
“But there will be 28 games that he can possibly play before we go to Brazil so it’s not something that bothers me enormously in November.
“That question could be a relevant one at the end of April or the start of May if he is still not playing games, but at the moment, I am just happy to accept that.”
“It’s going to take Jack some time,” Hodgson added.
“He admits that, as does Arsene (Wenger). I thought he did some very good things in the game against Chile so I wasn’t disappointed with him.
“He has had two or three weeks off with an ankle injury so it was going to be tough for him to come on and set the game alight in a game of that quality, but I wasn’t disappointed with him at all.
“I was pleased we got 71 minutes out of him and I hope that will do him well for the future.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
