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Ranieri challenges Vardy to shine
Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri has challenged Jamie Vardy to force himself into the England starting eleven ahead of the Premier League champions visit to Anfield.
The striker was an unused substitution in England’s recent 1-0 win over Slovakia in the World Cup Qualifiers after Sam Allardyce chose to start Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney despite the pair only having three International goals between them since November.
Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge got the nod from the bench over Vardy despite the forwards recent injury troubles.
Ranieri believes the snub from England will drive Vardy to prove his worth to the International setup; and help replicate the form the striker showed last season, which saw him finish with 24 goals.
"Yes he's refreshed, he trained very well, for me it is good - for him no, maybe he is hungrier. Show me. You have to fight and say 'hey Sam I am ready to play”, Ranieri said.
"It wasn't only Jamie. Also (Daniel) Amartey, (Danny) Drinkwater, Ben Chilwell, Shinji Okazaki and a lot of my players went around the world without playing.
"That's good. They recover a little more. If these managers are national managers, they want the players and we must understand the international managers need players and then they can choose.
It's important that everybody is in good condition."
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