England: 6 Players Who Need To Be Given A Chance Against Denmark

2. Jay Rodriguez

There was a lot of media attention during the build up to the friendlies with Chile and Germany for the fact that three Southampton players had been rewarded for their excellent form with a call up, something that had not happened to the club since the 1980s. This time, with the addition of Shaw, it's four. Adam Lallana has been one of the Premier League's most consistently excellent performers this year and was one of the few bright spots in the otherwise poor performances in those two earlier friendlies. Rickie Lambert has flourished in the England set up, with 2 goals in 4 games, and is a more reliable option as a big centre forward than injury prone Andy Carroll. Both have probably impressed enough that Hodgson should take them to Brazil. Shaw, as mentioned above, is probably more likely to feature in the future. Jay Rodriguez, then, is the player from Saints' four call ups that has the most to play for. With 10 goals in 26 appearances, he is the equal second top scoring English player in the Premier League, behind the free scoring Daniel Sturridge and level with Wayne Rooney. His performances at club level would suggest a more accomplished and threatening wide forward than regular England choice Danny Welbeck and Rodriguez has only improved for Saints since his earlier England call up. The only stumbling block to his inclusion is that he did not impress in those two previous games, while Welbeck has generally been a reliable performer for his country. It's down to the Denmark game, then, for Rodriguez to prove he has international class, if only Hodgson gives him a chance.