ROy to pair Gerald and Lampz for Euro

The duo have failed to form an effective partnership for the national team in recent years, despite their successes with Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.

But with both named in Hodgson's 23-man squad for the European Championships, he is refusing to rule out attempting to make the pairing work.

In Roy's words "I know it hasn't worked well in the past and that is why I don't want to say 'it is nonsense, of course it can work, I would be flying in the face of quite a lot of evidence you can put before me to prove it is not true. Sometimes players don't gel for certain reasons. I need to work with them to find that out for myself. I can't guarantee I won't be saying the same as other people once I've done that, but I am happy to give them a chance because I have seen them both do very good central midfield jobs for their club sides."

Hodgson also moved to stress his squad’s motivation to succeed with the Three Lions, outlining his captain Gerrard as the prime example.

"I know Steven is burning to bring the qualities he has got to England. He has made that perfectly clear to me," he added.

"I have been buoyed by some of the conversations I have had. You never know when you speak to players who have not always had the best of times and taken a lot of criticism for their performances.

"I wasn't certain I was going to get that enthusiasm - 'pick me, I want to play, give me that shirt, please don't take it from me'."

Reach me on facebook  and like my page, your comments are welcomed