Roy Hodgson will only pick Peter Crouch for England again on merit.
Eyebrows were raised when Crouch was left out of the present squad and was not called up even when Andy Carroll was ruled out through injury.
Despite scoring an impressive 22 goals in 42 caps for his country, successive managers have given the impression of not being interested in Crouch’s unique style.
His last appearance – against France in November 2010 – could be a microcosm of his career, scoring after being introduced as a late substitute.
Hodgson insists there is nothing personal behind the 31-year-old’s omission, revealing he tried to buy Crouch when he was manager of Fulham.
However, after confirming he had no interest in taking up a standby position ahead of Euro 2012, Hodgson will only call on Crouch if he feels he has an important role to play.
‘I did try to sign him at Fulham and I selected him for the Euros as well,’ said Hodgson.
‘He was on a standby list but he made it clear that, unless he was in the squad, he didn’t want to be considered.
‘I’m not going to bring him in to fill up the bench.
‘The day Crouch gets into an England squad is when I think he should be in the original 23.’
Hodgson has adopted a policy of drafting young players into his squad when injury strikes, as he has done on this occasion with Raheem Sterling, Jake Livermore and Adam Lallana all called up as cover.
But while it seems unlikely Crouch has any kind of future at England level, Darren Bent should not give up hope just yet after also being ignored.
‘Darren was injured for the best part of last season and the new one is only two or three games old,” said Hodgson.
‘He’s a player we’ll be following. I’ve not dismissed anybody.’
SportsMail
