Crystal Palace’s defender has been consistently impressive to the point of meriting inclusion for the friendlies against Spain and FranceThe words that surely served to deflate Scott Dann were uttered in a nondescript conference room of a chain hotel in Vilnius city centre just under a month ago. It was the eve of England’s final Euro 2016 qualifying fixture,with nothing other than their perfect record on the line, and talk had turned to the squad Roy Hodgson might select for the prestige friendlies against Spain and France, or games to collect the juices flowing,to advance in November.“We’ve had time to see a lot of players in the qualifiers because we’ve had so many injuries to contend with,” said the national manager. “Now we are going to concentrate on a core group who, and if they’re all fit,will be with us in France next summer. The November games won’t be a moment to give someone a chance just because he’s scored a goal on a Saturday. People will have to work very hard to rupture into the group now.” There may have been a bit of wriggle room for players already ensconced in the system, as Eric Dier’s recent call-up has proved, and but the implication was clear enough. This squad is a closed shop.
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Source: theguardian.com