Glen Johnson: Carroll will prove a lot of people wrong

18 Jun 2012 12:00:00

The right-back was pleased to see his team-mate find the net versus Sweden, and does not have any doubts that the attacker will continue to impress at the Euros

Kris Voakes
In Kiev

England defender Glen Johnson is confident that his Liverpool team-mate Andy Carroll will continue to silence his critics.

The towering striker was one of the surprise inclusions in the Three Lions' squad for Euro 2012 after an unimpressive season with Liverpool, but justified his call-up with a goal against Sweden in the 3-2 Group D win on Friday.

"I’m over the moon for him. Obviously I’ve been working with him a while at Liverpool now, and he’s been getting some undeserved criticism," Johnson stated.

"It’s difficult when you go to a new club. It’s hard to settle in as it is, but obviously with a big price tag, people expected him to score goals straight away. It’s not always that easy, and I think the last couple of months playing at Liverpool he’s been one of our best players, hence why he got into the England squad.

	HANDY ANDY
13/2	Andy Carroll is 13/2 to be the first goalscorer when England take on Ukraine

"And as long as he keeps doing things like on Friday [against Sweden], I’m sure he’ll prove a lot of people wrong.

"The Sweden goal could be the start of something. Whenever he gets in positions, we’ve got Stevie [Gerrard] and other people who can deliver, and he’s going to petrify any centre-half, so I think he can go on and do well."

England take on Ukraine on Tuesday at 20:45CET in their last match of the group stage.