Roy Hodgson and the England squad will have a bonding session in January as they attempt to put a dismal 2014 behind them and look forward to the year ahead.

The previous 12 months will not be remembered fondly by fans and players after the Three Lions were knocked out of the World Cup at the group stage.

Hodgson managed to end the year with four consecutive wins in Euro 2016 qualification and looks on course to qualify for the tournament next year.

And with that in mind, the former Fulham and Liverpool manager is hoping to capitalise on the current good mood in the camp by bringing the players together for an extra group session.

Hodgson said: “I enjoy working with the team enormously and therefore when my time with them comes to an end I always miss the players, the training, the work on the field.

“But luckily we have all agreed we are going to get together at the end of January so we can at least have some chance to review the games we have played and to think a little bit about what’s going to be important for us going forward in 2015.

“We can have a dinner together at least and make certain we send the players back early to their clubs because unfortunately my time with them won’t begin again until March.”

Following the tournament in Brazil, Wayne Rooney was named captain after Steven Gerrard retired and the England manager heaped praise on the skipper for his continued excellence in the role.

“Wayne had to step into big shoes and he has done that exceptionally well,” said Hodgson.

“He’s the only one with a large number of caps but luckily we have a guy like James Milner who is an unsung hero for me who has 51 caps and then people like Gary Cahill, Leighton Baines, Joe Hart and Phil Jagielka up in the 30s and 40s playing a bigger and bigger role.” 

Hodgson went on to say that the days when he was having to pick players who were not even in their club first team look to be in the past.

“Strangely in the last six months I have had to choose less and less of the younger players who don’t get a game in the starting line-up for their top teams,” he said.

“I would like to even hope some of their performances for England have accelerated their chances of being one of the first names on the team sheets for their clubs.”