Roy Hodgson comments on fitness of Raheem Sterling and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Roy Hodgson is confident that wingers Raheem Sterling and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be fit for the Euro 2016.

Both players have been suffering from injury problems throughout the campaign for Manchester City and Arsenal respectively. Sterling is expected to return in time for the Champions League semifinals against Real Madrid, while Arsenal are expected to nurse back Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from his knee injury. Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered the injury several weeks ago in the Champions League game against Arsenal. He has been a major absentee for the gunners, as they have seen their title challenge smother just like in every campaign in the last decade.

Hodgson has had a number of options when it comes to players. His predecessors did not have the luxury of choosing between four or five players for a single position. In fact, the biggest problem used to come in the midfield and forward positions where there were only a handful of top names available for selection. Hodgson, though, can go with options like Ross Barkley or Marcus Rashford even if the likes of Sterling and Oxlade-Chamberlain are struggling to be fit in time. The Euro 2016 starts in June and England have high hopes for doing well after being one of the best teams in the qualification campaign.

Sterling’s issue is not season threatening and he should be back soon. He suffered the injury while playing in the Manchester derbya few weeks ago. Many would actually be sceptical about Sterling’s involvement with the England national team especially since his form with City has been poor in the 2015-16 campaign. Sterling has scored only six league goals in 28 appearances for the Manchester outfit. Last season, he had scored seven league goals for Liverpool which was impressive considering that it was his first full season as a professional.