Hodgson to name squad next week

Soccer:New England manager Roy Hodgson will name his Euro 2012 squad a fortnight ahead of schedule, when he reveals his 23-man party next Wednesday.

Hodgson could have delayed naming the squad until the Uefa deadline of May 29th, but has opted to choose it ahead of a training camp in Spain and friendlies against Norway in Oslo and Belgium at Wembley.

Caretaker boss Stuart Pearce had been prepared to name a provisional squad tomorrow.

Hodgson still has matters to address, including the form of former skipper John Terry, who looked ill at ease playing for Chelsea in Tuesday night's 4-1 defeat at Liverpool.

He has yet to meet Terry and Rio Ferdinand to determine whether they will feel comfortable being in the same squad. Terry is accused of racially abusing Ferdinand's brother Anton, a charge which he denies, during a match at Loftus Road in October last year.

Several positions also have question marks hanging over them with Micah Richards, Glen Johnson, Kyle Walker, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling all right-back contenders.

Hodgson also has to solve the conundrum of who will play up front, with Wayne Rooney suspended for the first two games of the tournament and Darren Bent unlikely to be fit.

Then there is the issue of the captaincy after Terry was stripped of the armband for the second time. Scott Parker led the side out for Pearce's solitary match in charge against Holland at Wembley in February.

The squad will meet up on Monday, May 21st and travel to Spain for a training camp.

They will fly from Spain to Oslo for the Norway clash on May 26th and then be given two days off before meeting up again on May 29th to begin preparations for the game against Belgium on June 2nd.

Another two-day break will follow before the squad reconvene on June 5th and then travel to their Euro 2012 base in Krakow, Poland, the following day.