England Supporters Club

England striker Vardy: Down to me to earn starting place

Posted by Team England at 09:53 on Monday 20 June 2016

Jamie Vardy says he's simply happy to play his part at Euro 2016, safe in the knowledge Roy Hodgson's wealth of attacking options are making it "tough" for the England manager.

Vardy came off the bench at half time of the Three Lions' victory over Wales, scoring the equaliser that put Hodgson's men on the way to their first win of the finals.

Fellow substitute Daniel Sturridge netted an injury-time winner, while Marcus Rashford also impressed in his cameo appearance – demonstrating the competition of a place in the frontline.

And the Leicester man says he'd be perfectly willing to step off the bench in Monday's group-stage concluding game against Slovakia, if necessary.

"I’d be more than happy with that," he affirmed. "It’s up to the boss to pick the team that he thinks can get the win, so we’ll have to wait and see on Monday what team he puts out.

"It’s down to me on the training field to put the extra work in and hopefully dislodge one of the players if I can do.

"I think it is tough for him (Hodgson), but having competition for places is very good for the squad itself. The options we’ve got available mean we can use different systems as well.

"We’ve got 23 in the squad, and it’s a team game at the end of the day. If something’s not working then you’re going to need to bring someone off the bench, and everybody’s ready and waiting to make an impact.

"If that’s what happens in the next game then so be it. Hopefully we can get the job done."