Hodgson urges England players to turn deaf ear to critics to book 2014 World Cup place

England national football team manager Roy Hodgson has urged his players to prove their critics wrong and book a place in the 2014 World Cup by beating Montenegro on Friday.

Former England international and Queens Park Rangers player Joey Barton has reportedly slammed the England team as 's***', saying that the team does not have good players and that England's manager at the 1998 World Cup, Glenn Hoddle, has effectively written off the team's chances of winning the 2014 tournament.

According to the Mirror, England face Montenegro on Friday in the first of two matches over four days that will decide whether they go to Brazil as group winners.

However, Hodgson said that he believes that his players will silence their critics by beating Montenegro, and then Poland at Wembley on Tuesday, to book a place at next summer's finals, adding that being one of the big nations, England is expected to qualify for World Cups and European Championships.

Stating that the team is doing their level best to win the two games and reach next year's World Cup finals, Hodgson also said that he has seen his players show their prowess in some big games outside the qualifying group like Norway, Italy, Belgium and Sweden.

Hodgson further said that he is confident that England will go to Brazil as he trusts and believes in the players, who he added, are determined to do their job and make certain that the team steps out and deliver a good performance.