A squad of England outsiders who need to up their game for place at next summer’s World Cup.
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With qualification for next summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil almost secured, England manager Roy Hodgson will spend much of the rest of the season visiting Premier League grounds up and down the country looking for potential surprise inclusions to make the final cut of his squad for the tournament. The former Fulham and West Brom boss has shown he isn’t scared to make some surprise call-ups, with youngster Ross Barkley earning a call for these qualifying matches just gone, as well as veteran Southampton striker Rickie Lambert being given a rather fairytale introduction to the international scene late on in his career.
There are plenty of players out there (too many even for this squad) who are just on the verge of being England quality. Some of them are promising youngsters just starting to find their feet at their clubs, and some are recent international outcasts who will be hoping to reach their best form again at the crucial moment. Here is a look at a starting eleven and subs bench made of these England ‘hopefuls’.
