Everton defender Phil Jagielka looks set to get the nod to join England's Euro 2012 squad if Manchester City's Gareth Barry fails to shrug off his groin injury.
The midfielder was substituted just 26 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute during the 1-0 friendly win over Norway, and a scan on his injury now looks unlikely to take place until later today.
The hold-up in Barry's scan looks likely to force new England manager Roy Hodgson to reshuffle his pack ahead of confirming his 23-man squad for the European Championships to UEFA on Tuesday.
And while Jordan Henderson is the standby midfielder for the squad, Hodgson hinted that it would not necessarily be a like-for-like replacement if Barry was forced to withdraw - particularly after Jagielka's recent performances for the national side.
"I am prepared to reconfigure," said Hodgson, when asked if he would be willing to replace a member of his midfield with an additional defender.
"I am not necessarily looking to replace man-for-man in the midfield area because we have a lot of players in that area."
Fabio Capello was criticised after including Barry in the 2010 World Cup squad despite being unfit, and Hodgson says it will be up to Barry to confirm whether or not he feels able to perform this time round.
"We only have a couple of days to sort it out and we can't take any risks," he said.
"Gareth is a big man and when big men get injuries they sometimes takes a bit of time to heal.
"He is a very honest individual and whilst the scan will tell us a lot, if it doesn't give us the answer we want I shall be having a very serious discussion with him.
"He will have to be honest with me and let me know exactly how it is."
Do you think calling up Jagielka would be the right move? Let us know
Follow us
[ @SprtNationalUAE ]
