Hodgson: England door not shut for West Ham striker Carroll

Roy Hodgson has told Andy Carroll he can win his place back in the England squad if he hits the ground running next season.

Deep in the bowels of the Stadion Stozice in Ljubljana on Sunday night, Hodgson was reminiscing about the role Carroll played during the first few months of his reign as England manager.

When asked whether Jack Wilshere's second stunning goal in the 3-2 win over Slovenia was the best goal of his tenure, Carroll's name suddenly popped into his head.

"I'd have to put all the goals before me (before making a judgement), but I remember Andy Carroll's header," Hodgson said.

The goal Hodgson was referring to was the one he scored in England's second Euro 2012 group game against Sweden.

Carroll rose to beat his marker in the centre of the box and nodded in Steven Gerrard's pin-point cross to set England on their way to a vital 3-2 win.

Since the tournament in Poland and Ukraine, Carroll has played just 62 minutes of international football.

He came off at half-time during England's post-Euro 2012 friendly against Italy in Berne and made a brief cameo off the bench in the 5-0 win over San Marino on October 12, 2012.

The 26-year-old was in and out of the England squad for the next two seasons and despite repeated calls from then-Hammers boss Sam Allardyce, Carroll was left out of Hodsgon's World Cup squad last year as the former Fulham manager opted for Rickie Lambert instead.

After another injury-plagued season, Carroll was never mentioned as a possible contender for a call-up, but Hodgson would accept the towering forward back into the fold, despite fears England would revert to long-ball tactics with the former Newcastle man in the starting XI.

"I don't close doors," Hodgson said when asked about the possibility of a recall for Carroll.

"Rickie did a very good job for us, Charlie Austin has been with us and I am not going to be so hung up where I say: 'unless you are a certain type of footballer there is no chance for you'.

"If Andy can recapture his form, you know how much of a handful he is as a player, so who knows? He could quite easily become a player we look at.

"That is up to him. He has been very unfortunate with injuries, I can only hope he can recover from his injuries in the same way that Phil Jones and Jack Wilshere have."