Townsend aims to silence a few critics

TURIN — Andros Townsend has hit back at former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson after rescuing a draw for England against Italy. The Tottenham Hotspur winger stepped off the substitutes’ bench to grab England’s equaliser in Turin with a 25-yard shot and cancel out Graziano Pelle’s opener for the hosts in Turin.

Merson had claimed Townsend should not have been in Hodgson’s England squad for the Lithuania and Italy games. But Hodgson described Townsend as a “game changer” and the 23-year-old posted a message on Twitter: “Not bad for a player that should be ‘nowhere near the squad’.”

In a separate TV interview with Sky Sports, Townsend then added: “Of course, I have been thinking about it all week. I have just been desperate to get on the pitch and silence a few critics.

“As soon as the goal went in, I was thinking of all the people questioning my call-ups and saying I should be nowhere near the England squad.

“Hopefully, that will keep them quiet for a few months and, hopefully, they can realise the quality I bring to the team.”

Injury ruled Townsend out of the England World Cup squad, but Hodgson has justified his decision to keep faith in the player.

“It’s because of the qualities he brings,” explained Hodgson. “He’s got that ability, Andros, to get turned around very quickly and run at enormous pace with skill at defenders, and that’s something defenders don’t like.”

Townsend added: “It was a nightmare to be at the World Cup and not play because I was injured. The manager stuck by me through the tough times and every time he has shown me loyalty, I have repaid that.”

Townsend and his England team-mates were forced to stay in Turin for an extra night because of a technical fault to their plane. The squad were due to fly back at mid-day today, delaying the return of the players to their clubs.

Hodgson experimented with Theo Walcott partnering Harry Kane up front and captain Wayne Rooney at the top of a diamond midfield that was anchored by Phil Jones.

But England’s performance improved after Chris Smalling was forced off through illness and Michael Carrick was sent on.

“The first half was nothing like the performances I’m looking for,” said Hodgson. “But the second half was much closer to what we’re trying to do. There were moments where we played well. I don’t want to criticise any players. You will have to make the judgments in that respect.”

On Kane’s first start, Hodgson said: “I thought he did very well. It wasn’t an easy game, playing against three very experienced, tough defenders. It’s been a good 10 days for him. He’s scored on debut and played 90 minutes of a tough game. He’ll gain a lot of benefit from that.”

Selected results of international friendlies on Tuesday:

Switzerland 1 USA 1; Sweden 3 Iran 1; Netherlands 2 Spain 0