John Terry: Roy Hodgson refuses to rule out retired England defender for Euro 2016

The Chelsea defender retired from international football four years ago

England manager Roy Hodgson looks on from the touchline (Getty)

Even four years after he retired from international duty, the spectre of John Terry continues to hang over Roy Hodgson and England ahead of a major tournament.

For all of the optimism generated by November’s Wembley victory against France and last Saturday’s 3-2 triumph against world champions Germany in Berlin, the itch that Hodgson has been unable to scratch is the one coming from the heart of his back four.

Quite simply, England’s defence, which was barely tested by weak opposition during the qualification campaign for Euro 2016, has appeared vulnerable when conceding four goals in two games against Germany and the Netherlands during the past week and the concern remains that the back four will prove to be the Achilles heel in France.

Cue the ghost of Terry. Not since he vacated the international scene after winning his 78th and final cap against Moldova in September 2012 have England been able to call upon a reliable replacement on the left side of the central defensive pairing and Hodgson admits that, barring an unlikely retirement U-turn by Terry, there is no obvious solution to the problem.

“There are, in my opinion, no left-sided centre-backs, who are English, playing in the league who are at least at the level of the ones we are choosing,” Hodgson said. “That’s a fact of life and there’s not much we can do about it.”

When it was suggested Terry could be the answer, Hodgson responded with a rueful shrug.

“Yes, who knows (laughing),” Hodgson said. “I had a long chat with John the other day, he’s a very nice guy.

“But because he retired so long ago -- he retired four years ago -- he doesn’t feature in my thinking too often.

“But I can’t deny that is a valid point. He is a left-sided centre-half, although not a left-sided player. He’s right-footed.

“The point that we haven’t got the left-sided one is quite right, but there is nothing I can do about that unless suddenly, in the next five weeks, some brilliant English left-sided centre-back appears on the scene and I don’t anticipate that.”

Gary Cahill’s loss of form for club and country is a concern, with Phil Jagielka yet to return to his best at Everton. Phil Jones, a Hodgson favourite, appears to be out of the picture after sidelined by injury at Manchester United since January.

Chris Smalling has impressed, however, and will be the first pick at the back in France, yet Hodgson’s quandary revolves around John Stones and whether the Everton defender can be trusted to keep it simple and avoid the mistakes - a slip in possession - which led to the second goal for the Dutch at Wembley.

Chelsea's Terry retired from international football four years ago (Getty)

“I think Stones, who has not played many games recently, showed a lot of assurance and showed signs of the type of player he can be (against the Dutch),” Hodgson said. “But for me, a slip’s a slip.

“I don’t know that I, as a football coach and as an ex-footballer, will put quite so much importance on the fact that he slipped in that moment.

“Sometimes people have had careers ruined by being unlucky. I would put that slip down to misfortune and if I analysed his 90 minute performance, I don’t think I would criticise him too heavily over the whole 90 minutes.”

Despite the concerns and frailties at the back, Hodgson remains confident that England can iron out their flaws, however.

“Getting the right back four is important, but before these two games, we played 10 qualifying matches and let in three goals,” Hodgson said. “We haven’t let in an awful lot of goals.

“You need clean sheets, but you also have to accept that you won’t always get them if things happen like they did against the Dutch because they are things you cannot legislate against.”