by Our Sports Desk

Roy Hodgson never considered quitting in the wake of England’s disappointing World Cup campaign.

The Three Lions’ departure from Brazil was confirmed before a lot of teams had played their second game of the tournament, but manager Hodgson’s position never really came into question.

He was immediately backed by Football Association chairman Greg Dyke and is now back in office planning for the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

“There have been plenty of dark moments, times where looking back you don’t believe fate has put you in that situation,” he told Sky Sports News.

“But the fact is that I would quite happily relinquish this job any time my employers think they don’t want me anymore, or when I feel the players don’t have the respect necessary or feel they don’t want to continue playing for me. In that moment if it’s time for me to walk away I will do, but this time it was made clear to me that wasn’t the situation.

“The FA wanted me to continue in the job, the feedback from the people around the team was the same, therefore there was never any doubt in my mind that I would continue.”

Hodgson is glad that Frank Lampard remains available for selection after Steven Gerrard retired from international duty after the World Cup and, although he accepts he could skipper the side when the qualifiers start, he does not view him as the most viable long-term option.

“It’s not easy when you’re playing in America to go back and forward for the odd England game,” he added.

“Realistically we know that Frank — we’ve had this discussion — will be 38 in 2016. We can’t consistently look backwards on these very, very great players who have played over 100 times for England and expect it to last forever.”