Friday 13 November 2015 02:11, UK
Roy Hodgson believes modern pitches may be to blame for the recent spate of injuries blighting the England squad.
Hodgson is without 15 regulars for England's friendly in Spain on Friday; the likes of Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere, Jordan Henderson and Leighton Baines are absent from the trip while Jamie Vardy is unlikely to play after suffering an injury on the eve of the game in Alicante.
And the England boss suggested that the number of injuries could be down to the tight-knitting of artificial grass and natural grass in new pitches.
He said: "I honestly believe the pitches, strangely enough, in getting so much better in some cases, have provoked more injuries because this surface now... is mixed a little bit with the artificial to keep the roots tighter.
"I think people slide a little bit more and maybe it does provoke [more injuries]. I have heard that put forward and it happened to me at Blackburn.
"We had the Desso pitches put down and we had all these Gilmore's Groin injuries and we couldn't understand it. We looked at everything we were doing technically, tactically, warm-ups etc and we couldn't come to terms with it.
"Maybe it's the fact that the pitches, in being so good, they are forcing people to slide and stretch a bit more, that's a possibility. I really don't know for sure. It's a difficult one.
"Let's hope they can find the solution because it is a bit frustrating. It would have been nice in this month to have had a harder selection problem than I eventually ended up having and really bringing in some people who might not have got a look in otherwise."
