Attack
Upfront we have Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor and West Ham’s Andy Carroll, in a classic big-man-small-man strike partnership.
Agbonlahor only has three England caps to his name, the last coming back in 2009 when he was arguably at his best form for Villa. Still, there are signs this season that he could be back on the up, as he looks to finally put some of his injury problems behind him. Although he is perhaps not prolific enough for a striker, his pace, strength and skill often make him a nightmare for Premier League defences, and he could give Hodgson something different upfront, perhaps as an impact sub. His manager Paul Lambert is impressed with him anyway, and sees no reason why he can’t make the final cut for the squad next summer if he carries on playing like this.
Carroll is certainly a player that divides opinion, but in fairness to him he hasn’t been helped by injuries in recent times and looks set for another lengthy layoff now. Expected back in January, the 24-year-old won’t have long to prove himself worthy of adding to his nine caps and two goals so far for his country, but the tall target man is certainly a useful weapon for Hodgson, as he showed with some strong displays at Euro 2012.