Euro 2016: Roy Hodgson says England needs Plan B for if they are without Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck

The England manager has not had Sturridge available since the Norway friendly following last summer’s World Cup finals

Roy Hodgson has conceded that he has to have a contingency plan in case he is without Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck for Euro 2016, saying that the latter could miss six months out with a knee problem that has required surgery this month.

The England manager has not had Sturridge available since the Norway friendly following last summer’s World Cup finals and while Sturridge is in training with Liverpool again, Harry Kane has emerged in the interim. Welbeck developed a cartilage problem in his left knee in April and Arsenal announced three days ago that he would be out “for a period of months” having been advised surgery was the best course.

A key player for Hodgson, especially given his two goals in the crucial first qualifier against Switzerland, Welbeck would ordinarily be a fixture in the England squad. Speaking after the 6-0 win over San Marino on Saturday that means England are assured of a place in France, Hodgson said that he could not take Welbeck or Sturridge’s summer availability for granted any longer.

“Well, Welbeck bothers me now,” Hodgson said. “He has already been out for me since March and for Arsenal since April, so that's over four months, isn't it? And now I hear it's another six months, so I can only hope that Danny recovers a bit quicker and then hits the ground running.

“Daniel [Sturridge] is a little bit the same. It's getting on for a year now. They are always in my thoughts because I think they're very good players and they did extremely well when they were playing in the national team I was coaching, but I've got to make certain that there are a few Vardys and Kanes and Walcotts and that because we can't keep going around talking about the ones who aren't there.

“Jack [Wilshere] was fantastic against Slovenia and was one of the players who actually had a good game against Ireland, so when he goes down injured, we're thinking that's a blow to us because we like him and we think he's doing a good job. But it's nice to have Michael Carrick back and it's nice that Jonjo Shelvey showed what he can do.

“We've got to be quite sanguine about it and we mustn't start thinking "When this one comes back, we'll be better still." We can't do that. We've got to make sure we're good with the ones who are playing.”