Lions look to improve
England without Gerrard and Lampard keen on a fresh beginning
London, Sept. 2: After a dismal World Cup, England will enter an uncertain new era on Wednesday when they tackle Norway in a lowkey friendly game at Wembley Stadium.
Manager Roy Hodgson has called up four uncapped players in Calum Chambers, Danny Rose, Fabian Delph, and Jack Colback, but following England’s group- stage elimination in Brazil, supporter interest is at a low ebb.
With several players missing due to injury and with former stalwarts such as Frank Lampard and captain Steven Gerrard having retired, the Football Association expects a record low crowd of around 35,000 for the game.
The match nonetheless serves an important purpose, with Hodgson’s side due to open their 2016 European Championship qualifying campaign away to Switzerland, their main Group ‘ E’ rivals, in Basel on September 8.
The fixture will also see Wayne Rooney lead the team out for the first time since being appointed captain.
Amid all the novelty, midfielder Jordan Henderson has urged his teammates to seize the chance of a fresh start.
“This is the first time the group has been together since the World Cup, so I think we’ve got to deal with it and put it to bed now and move on and look towards the future,” said the Liverpool player.
“Obviously overall it was very disappointing because we came home far too early, but we’ve got to look at some of the positives as well and hopefully use them to move forwards and start a new chapter,” he added.
Defender Chambers, 19, was rewarded with a callup after impressing in his first few appearances for new club Arsenal following a close- season move from Southampton.