Young English tyro is still rated touch and go for the Three Lions’ final challenge on the road to Brazil 2014.
England head coach Roy Hodgson has confirmed that wide man Andros Townsend faces a late fitness test on a knee injury he picked up in his stunning debut against Montenegro on Friday ahead of Tuesday night’s crucial Fifa World Cup qualifier with Poland at Wembley Stadium, according to reports on SkySports.com.
The Tottenham Hotspur winger took a knock to his knee during his man-of-the-match display for the Three Lions as they crushed third-placed Montenegro 4-1 at the home of football on Friday evening to maintain the hosts’ position at the top of Group H with now just one qualifier left to play ahead of next summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil.
Townsend not only created England’s vital opening goal just after the break against a stubborn Montenegro side, but when the visitors surprisingly pulled a goal back totally against the run of play to make the scoreline 2-1 to the home team, the 22-year-old then capped off a memorable performance by driving home a sensational long-range effort to help seal the victory for Hodgson’s men.
And that now means England only need one more win against fourth-in-the-table Poland to guarantee automatic qualification on the road to Rio, although Hodgson will be desperate to have the Spurs flyer fit and available for the Three Lions’ final test.
“Andros took a slight knock on Friday so we will have to monitor that but we are hopeful he will be okay for Tuesday,” Hodgson said in his pre-match press conference on Monday.