England squad: Sam Allardyce to opt for experience with John Terry and Jermain Defoe under consideration

James Olley23 August 2016

Sam Allardyce has revealed that places in his first England team are up for grabs but hinted he will opt for experience over youth as he bids for a positive start to the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

The 61-year-old will name his squad on Sunday after the conclusion of this weekend’s Premier League games, with Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe among several players who missed out on Euro 2016 under consideration.

Roy Hodgson used his four-year tenure to drive down the average age of England’s squad as he focused on developing youth, but Allardyce is keen to use players ready to make a major impact on the international stage immediately.

Allardyce has ensured England will have a clear week ahead of his first competitive match against Slovakia in Trnava on Sunday week and will pick his team early in the week in order to drill them into a cohesive unit.

“I know the basis of it but I don’t know the team,” he said. “I don’t know it all just yet. There are other people to consider as well as the squad that went to the European Championships.

“I’m not going to say specifically say who they are at this moment. They will all come into play for selection for the first get-together. I need to work at that team and we need to understand how the opposition are going to play, how we can break them down and try to beat them.

“It is a team game and I’ve got to try and get them to play as a team. So to do that a couple of days before we play them [Slovakia] is more important than keeping the team a secret for me.”

Those who felt their England careers were over may now suddenly have another opportunity, none more so than Chelsea captain John Terry, who will be considered for an international recall should the 35-year-old make himself available.

Terry and Defoe in action last season Photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty
GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images

Terry retired from international football in 2012 after the FA pursued a disciplinary case against him despite a court clearing him of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a match in 2011.

Many of the senior figures at the organisation have since moved on and although Hodgson was also forced to rule out Terry — despite a willingness to select him for the 2014 World Cup — Allardyce is unlikely to face the same resistance should he wish to pick him.

Terry’s camp declined to comment when contacted by Standard Sport this morning but Chelsea boss Antonio Conte believes the centre-back can play on for a few years at the highest level.

However, Terry turns 36 in December and faces competition from younger defenders, including John Stones, whose mixed form over the last year did not stop Manchester City parting with £47.5million to prise him from Everton.

Allardyce rates Stones highly but when asked about the youngster’s potential, he revealed an unwillingness to wait for players to flourish.

“There’s that word?” he said. “We don’t want potential, do we? I want the real thing, and right now. Potential is something that’s going to be great in the future. I want it right now and I think he’s got a great chance of becoming ‘right now’ working with Manchester City, with all due respect to Everton. There is a level he has to get to because you don’t realise [Pep Guardiola] does focus quite a lot on defending.”

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