COUNTDOWN TO
JAMIE VARDY has revealed he is prepared to do all the dirty work England need in Russia – after failing to touch the ball in his 22 minutes on the pitch against Holland.
The Leicester City striker didn’t manage a single touch after coming on as a second-half substitute for Marcus Rashford in the Amsterdam Arena.
Vardy is in the squad for his goals and pace – but after sacrificing himself for the team in Holland the England star proved he’s no glory hunter.
Asked if that had ever happened to him before he said: “Probably not. But I did a lot of running though!
“I came on at a time that Holland were trying to get a goal to get them back in the game.
“As a striker you do sometimes have to sacrifice yourself and we just want to make sure we attack as a team and defend as a team, so I had to help out the midfield as well.”
Vardy, in the middle of a productive goal spell for Leicester with seven in nine games, admitted he was expecting stick from the squad once they realised he hadn’t touched the ball.
Focus
But as he prepares for the nod to face Italy at Wembley on Tuesday the 31-year-old striker says his focus is simply to make sure he contributes enough to make the final 23-man squad after watching the 2014 World Cup while on holiday.
“I just give 100 per cent in every game and keep getting my goals and hopefully that will continue until the end of the season and get me selected for the World Cup squad,” he said.
“But you don’t take anything for granted. I hope that first and foremost I’m playing well for Leicester to give me a chance
“The past nine games for Leicester I’ve been getting the goals and long may that continue – hopefully at least until the end of the season.
“With Harry Kane injured I’m hopeful of starting against Italy but it’s up to the boss what formation he plays and which players he wants to pick, so we’ll have to wait and see.” Having GARETH SOUTHGATE has claimed England have enough pace and creativity to survive in Russia with no recognised playmaker. Three Lions critics believe England still need a stringpulling player to dictate tempo – but Southgate isn’t worried. He said: “I don’t think we are missing any players. I think we’ve brought everybody into the squad who we believe can play. I think we have got to look at different systems to allow players to play certain roles. Against Holland Jordan Henderson used the ball well playing an intelligent role as the pivot and he linked it up because of the speed ahead of him. That is probably a route for us to go. “If we are a low-tempo team looking for a playmaker, I’m not sure that a) we have that player at the moment or b) that it suits some of the other strengths we have as well. For us to play with pace and energy and no little composure in fairness I think is a good route to go. “Lingard and Oxlade-Chamberlain are in really good form for their clubs, they make telling forward runs and their use of the ball linking with Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling was good. It meant we have terrific pace and energy on the field. “We have good competition for places because if you look at possible No.8s or 10s then Adam Lallana and Ruben Loftus-Cheek come into that as well.”