Former Manchester United midfielder: England progression hampered with absence of Chelsea duo

Former Manchester United midfielder Ray Wilkins has slammed Roy Hodgson after England's exit from the group stages of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and claims the situation would have been different if John Terry and Ashley Cole were in the squad.

The Blues central defender has already announced his retirement from international football, while the former Arsenal left-back was dropped from the Three Lions' squad as Hodgson preferred Everton star Leighton Baines and Southampton's Luke Shaw.

Wilkins and has worked with Terry and Cole closely, while he was Chelsea's assistant manager. The former England midfielder believes England's chances could have bene different if Hodgson had played the Blues duo in the World Cup games.

“Defensively, I've been worried since we went out [to the World Cup]. The conversation should have been had with John Terry. And I honestly felt we should have taken Ashley Cole because, from a defensive point of view, he is still our best left-back," Wilkins told Talksport.

"As much as you like to attack and you like to score goals, you have to think about defending your own goal as well and we started these guys just a little bit too quickly."

Wilkins' criticism against Hodgson did not stop just to Terry and Cole, who were not in the squad. However, the 57 year old former midfielder also slammed the England manager for not bringing on Chelsea's Frank Lampard, when they were trailing 2-1 down against Italy and Uruguay.

"We are 2-1 down in the first two games, we are crying out for a goal. Frank Lampard scores goals," Wilkins siad.

"He is a fox in the box and he scores like a centre-forward. If we bought him on for 20 minutes, he has got the know-how to turn up in space and put the ball back of the net. But we haven't used him at all."

Lampard was on the bench during the Three Lions' first two games and could not get any playing time. However. Hodgson handed him a place in the starting XI and was named England's captain during their goalless draw against Costa Rica.