England squad: Forster Forster injury earns Rob Green England recall
Southampton’s Forster was carried off on a stretcher after suffering a knee injury against Burnley on Saturday
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Your support makes all the difference.England will almost certainly be without goalkeeper Fraser Forster for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania this Friday.
Southampton’s Forster was carried off on a stretcher after suffering a knee injury against Burnley on Saturday, prompting England manager Roy Hodgson to call up Rob Green of Queen’s Park Rangers and promote Stoke City’s Jack Butland from the Under-21 squad.
Green has played for England once since the 2010 World Cup. Hodgson said when he named his original squad that he regards Butland as his third goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, Ronald Koeman, the Southampton manager, was full of praise for Forster’s stand-in, Kelvin Davis, after he made some crucial saves in the 2-0 win.
Shane Long’s third Premier League goal for Saints and a second-half own-goal from Burnley captain Jason Shackell were enough to keep Koeman’s side in the hunt for a Champions League spot.
Of the 38-year-old Davis, making his first appearance in more than a year, Koeman said: “He was looking very comfortable and made two great saves. It is difficult because it was a long time ago that he played. He was joking after and said maybe they will take him to the national team.”
Burnley manager Sean Dyche felt his side were denied a clear penalty when Jose Fonte challenged George Boyd. “It was certainly very surprising we didn’t get a penalty. That is the third one in a matter of weeks that we haven’t had,” he said.
The Stoke City manager, Mark Hughes, claimed his side had a penalty wrongly given against them and were also denied a clear one themselves in their 2-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace.
After Mame Biram Diouf’s close-range finish had put Stoke a goal up early on, they suffered what Hughes deemed the first injustice when Palace equalised in the 41st minute.
Referee Andre Marriner judged Asmir Begovic to have fouled Yannick Bolasie, who was chasing a long ball forward as the pair collided in the box, and awarded a spot-kick which Glenn Murray scored.
The Stoke manager said: “I thought Bolasie had got his foot up high, and that is what has taken Asmir’s eye and why he has missed the ball. In my view it was a free-kick the other way for dangerous play.”
Hughes was also aggrieved about an incident midway through the second period – by which point Stoke were trailing to Wilfried Zaha’s goal in first-half stoppage time – when a Diouf shot struck the arms of Palace defender Joel Ward.
Garry Monk, the Swansea manager, said that “there’s no stopping” Bafetimbi Gomis after the striker scored the late winner at Aston Villa.
It was his first strike since collapsing at Tottenham earlier this month and Monk said: “He’s fine. His work rate is incredible.”
The 1-0 defeat left Villa three points above the relegation zone and their manager, Tim Sherwood, rued the late loss. “It was disappointing to lose in that manner,” he said. “It’s a set-back but we’ll pick ourselves up.”
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