BREAKING NEWS: Hodgson confirms Ashley Cole will make 100th England appearance against Brazil

Hodgson confirms Ashley Cole will make 100th England appearance against Brazil

05-Feb-2013 10:15:00 PM

The Chelsea left-back will mark a century of international caps with the Three Lions by starting in Wednesday's friendly clash with Luis Felipe Scolari's side at Wembley

England boss Roy Hodgson has confirmed that Ashley Cole will win his 100th international cap by starting against Brazil.

The Chelsea defender, who made his debut in 2001, will mark a century of appearances for the Three Lions during Wednesday evening's friendly.

Though the 32-year-old will feature in the starting XI at Wembley, Hodgson noted that he will not take the captain's armband from Steven Gerrard for the game.

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The Croydon-born boss went on to defend the controversial full-back, adding: "If you are an England fan and don't respect and love someone for what he's done, that's your problem," before insisting that supporters should give Cole the "credit and admiration he deserves."

The 65-year-old also described the left-back as the "most consistent player over last 10-12 years in our team [...] he deserves to celebrate that."

Hodgson went on to hail Cole's understudy, Everton star Leighton Baines, saying: "Ashley has greater competition than he's ever had ... certainly Leighton has matured enormously as an international player."