Back us to hit the target says Hart

JOE HART says England’s strikers are bang on target in training, even though statistics from their matches show they are some of the most wayward in the competition.

They managed 30 shots in the goalless draw with Slovakia on Monday night but only five were on target, taking their overall tally to 15 shots on target for the tournament from an incredible 65 attempts on goal.

To put that into context, Wales’ Gareth Bale has managed 11 shots on target on his own – from just 16 attempts.

But Hart, above, is adamant that the England goalkeepers are being made to work hard in training and that it is only a matter of time before the strikers come good on the pitch.

“It has been very good,” he said. “We back our players, we’ve got some fantastic strikers.

“We’ve come up against some really resilient defending and some good goalkeeping.

“But I think everyone’s well aware that there’s going to be a game when we do start getting what we deserve and that’s going to be a good day for us.”

Credit to England’s attacking football – Portugal are the only other side to have reached 50 attempts on goal in the competition.

But England’s percentage of strikes which are ‘on target’ or hit the woodwork is just 23 per cent.

Closer inspection shows that it is Tottenham players who are particularly letting the side down.

Dele Alli’s eight attempts without getting a single one on target is only one short of Blerim Dzemaili of Switzerland, who has a tally of nine.

In all, though, Tottenham’s England and Belgium internationals have had 31 attempts on goal this tournament – only three of them have troubled the goalkeepers.

That 10 per cent ‘on target’ rate should be compared with the current Real Madrid tally of 19 on target from 53 attempts from their eight players on duty, or nearly 40 per cent.