Exclusive – England boss Roy Hodgson unhappy with training ground ‘spies’

England manager Roy Hodgson has slammed the actions of snooping photographers after pictures emerged of a suspected team line-up which suggests he plans to start Harry Kane in Friday’s Euro 2016 qualifier.

Joint Premier League top scorer Kane was rewarded for his fine goalscoring form with his first call-up to the Three Lions squad last week, and his chances of earning his senior debut were boosted when Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge withdrew from the team through injury.

The England side, who face Lithuania at Wembley on Friday ahead of a friendly against Italy next week, took to the St George’s Park training pitch for the first time on Tuesday afternoon and social media was soon abuzz after images of Hodgson’s tactics surfaced online.

Long-lens shots uncovered what appears to be the boss’ intended team formation, with Kane and Rooney paired together up front, but the manager - who spoke with Adrian Durham and Darren Gough on a Drivetime special from the FA’s training complex - warned against the press "spying" on his side.

“It’s dangerous to do that”, he told talkSPORT.

“It’s dangerous to spy on those types of things at a training session. That piece of paper is something we take out with us to training because he have to select teams.

“I don’t think it’s right to suggest that, in order to avoid this espionage, I have to remember everything that I have thought about.

“We change players around quite often, so if that’s what people want to read from the espionage, that’s up to them.

“I just hope they don’t all come and blame me if I don’t start with Kane and Rooney, just because they saw it on my piece of paper, because they shouldn’t have been looking at it in the first place.”

Listen to Drivetime's exclusive interview with England manager Roy Hodgson in full above!