Ferdinand urges Hodgson to start Vardy and Sturridge against Slovakia

Former England international Rio Ferdinand has urged coach Roy Hodgson to start Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge after the pair helped the side to a 2-1 win over Wales.

Posted Saturday, June 18, 2016 by squawka.com

With both Vardy and Sturridge starting on the bench, Hodgson’s men fell behind just before the break after Gareth Bale opened the scoring with his second goal in as many matches when he powered home a free-kick in the 42nd minute.

In need of positive result, the England tactician brought on both the Leicester City and Liverpool strikers to replace the largely ineffective Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling pairing just moments after the restart.

And the move seemed to pay dividends with Vardy scoring from close range in the 57th minute after Ashley Williams appeared to head the ball back towards his own goal before Sturridge pounced late on in stoppage time to hand England a dramatic victory.

As a result, the Three Lions leapfrogged their rivals to the top of Group B on four points with a win and a draw following their 1-1 result against Russia in their opening matchday.

Moreover, a draw against Slovakia in their final group match would be enough to seal progression into the knockout stages after dominating much of the proceedings.

Speaking to BBC Sport after the match, Ferdinand has urged Hodgson to keep the momentum going to start the pair in the final group match.

''Hodgson has a nice problem. Me personally, I’d throw in those same guys in again and let them play,” he said.

''The confidence these two guys are going to get from that result especially the way they finished, is huge.

''Hodgson’s got to control that but again sometimes you’ve got to unleash them. Momentum in a tournament is so vital, they’ve got a little bit of that now, let that continue – taking that away, I don’t think, is the right way to go forward.

''I think they’ve got to let them keep playing more. What is does as well is it tells other people we have a good squad, people that can come in and make an impact and change a game.”

England are set to take on Slovakia at Saint-Etienne on Monday.