Hodgson impressed by Team GB trio

6 August 2012 17:01

Roy Hodgson has identified three players as potential England stars after their performances at the Olympics.

Chelsea duo Daniel Sturridge and Ryan Bertrand, as well as Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley, all caught the eye of the England manager.

Team GB were beaten on Saturday by South Korea at the quarter-final stage on penalties, but coach Stuart Pearce wasted no time in declaring that Sturridge and Cleverley were ready to make the step up to senior international football.

And Hodgson hopes that the Olympic experience has set the trio - who have only one England senior cap between them - on the right path to start making a regular spot in his squad their own.

Speaking to the Football Association's official website, Hodgson said: "Most of them (the GB players) are pretty much ready anyway, but one or two of the younger players like Bertrand and Sturridge and players like Tom Cleverley, who is coming back from injury, may have not been quite so much a fixture in their teams.

"Let's hope the Olympic experience with Team GB has given them a better chance of staking a claim for a regular spot."

Hodgson will name a squad for the friendly with Euro 2012 runners-up Italy on August 15, and is keen to use some players who were not integral members of his European Championship squad.

"There will be players involved in that game who weren't part of the Euros and I'm sure Italy will make changes too, so it won't be two similar line-ups from the quarter-final but it will be quite interesting to play so soon after our elimination against them," he said.