Hodgson talks down Terry injury

Roy Hodgson has insisted that the twisted ankle John Terry sustained during England‘s 5-0 win over Moldova is not a long-term injury.

The Chelsea captain was visibly struggling throughout the last fifteen minutes of the match, with manager Roy Hodgson having already used up all three substitutions, with Michael Carrick forced to fill out in defence as Terry attempted to recuperate.

However, despite Terry being unable to see the game out, Hodgson insisted after the game that any damage will not see the defender ruled out in the long term and has not put a line through him featuring against Ukraine on Tuesday.

Hodgson told ITV reporters: “I don’t think it’s very serious. Tuesday is a close proximity and you’ve only got three days. It is not a long-term injury by any stretch of the imagination and I’ll have to wait for what the doctors and physics tell me.

Hodgson added in the press conference later: “I’d liked to have taken him off, and we did suggest we’d play with 10. He’s a warrior though, so he pooh poohed the suggestion he should come off with 20 minutes to go.

“He took a kick on the ankle in the first half and then twisted it slightly when he landed in front of the bench in the second half.

“They’re assessing him at the moment. It’s obviously not a very serious injury, but every knock is important with only three days between games. Steve was purely tactical after three games in a week.

“He knows his body after all these years, and he obviously felt it wasn’t as big a problem as we feared on the bench.”

The centre-back helped England keep a clean sheet as they brushed Moldova aside thanks to a double from Frank Lampard and a goal apiece from Jermain Defoe, James Milner and Leighton Baines.