I WAS genuinely surprised by the furore surrounding the fake England team that leaked on Monday afternoon.

For those unaware, an article supposedly appeared on the FA’s website with what was deemed the official England Euro 2016 23-man squad.

The actual announcement is tomorrow, so it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that someone at the FA accidentally got the time and date wrong on the article and leaked it to the world three days early.

The post was uploaded by a Twitter user who posted a screenshot of a fake url, which fooled me for 24 hours I must admit, and posted it online before the FA replied to the tweet hours later, clearly stating that it was a fake.

However, what was interesting was that the 23-man squad was pretty much to be expected, barring two surprise omissions, glaring spelling errors which people quickly picked up on and one jaw-dropping inclusion which sent the England-supporting football universe into overdrive.

Tottenham duo Kyle Walker and Danny Rose were left out of Roy Hodgson’s squad. This sparked outrage across social media, with TalkSport’s Stan Collymore dumbfounded that Hodgson would leave out what he deems as England’s best left back for Luke Shaw, a player who is still recovering from a broken leg suffered in September.

Shaw’s name on that alleged squad list surprised everyone — except those who had listend to what the England manager had been saying and doing this season.

Hodgson has made no secret that he is a huge admirer of Shaw, selecting him in his World Cup 2014 squad and playing him in the dud group match against Costa Rica.

Shaw endured a difficult start to his Manchester United career but after getting fit in the summer, he started off this season like a man with a point to prove.

He was flying down the left prior to his horrific injury at PSV. Journalists and fans alike had already booked his flight on the plane to France for the Euros.

When Shaw did get injured, it was always going to be a race against the clock for him to return

to the pitch for this summer’s tournament. But Hodgson said that Shaw didn’t have to play again this season to be selected for his squad, he just had to be fit enough to play in France.

Given that United boss Louis van Gaal has hinted that he could feature in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, that is all Hodgson needs to know.

The former Southampton defender is in contention for his club and is now in the manager’s mind to represent his country.

Even if Shaw was nowhere near a first-team return, Rose was not guaranteed to play this summer.

Since the injury, England have played six games. In those six, Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs has started four. It was only when Gibbs picked up an injury that Rose was selected for the Three Lions.

Clearly, Hodgson isn’t as big a fan of the Spurs full back as most and, with Southampton’s Ryan Betrand the other left-back in the leaked squad, people should have seen Rose’s omission coming.

Same with Walker. In the eight games played since the start of the season, Liverpool’s Nathaniel Clyne started five. In the last friendly, though Walker started, Clyne replaced Rose at left back.

Both players made the back-up list and could easily find themselves in the final squad due to injuries, so it’s not like they were left out altogether.

One thing Hodgson’s time in charge of the national side has shown is that he has his favourite players. Danny Welbeck, who is likely to miss out due to the injury he suffered on Sunday, Jack Wilshere who, like Shaw, only needed to be fit to be on the plane, Wayne Rooney, his captain and someone deemed undroppable by the media, and Andros Townsend.

Townsend is an interesting one. The former Liverpool boss said that the Newcastle winger must be playing for him to stand any chance of making the England squad. Townsend left Tottenham and joined the Toon in order to give himself every opportunity to force his way into the national set up.

To give him his dues, he has impressed greatly since his January move and would have been worried that he never saw his name in this squad.

The rumours yesterday morning were that Hodgson saw Townsend as the natural replacement for Welbeck and if there are any changes from the joke squad the nation saw on Monday and the real one announced tomorrow, Townsend must be one of the favourites to hear his name called out tomorrow afternoon.

In terms of internet hoaxes, this is one of the best in a very long time, and had many people going crazy over what they thought were the 23 players selected for Euro 2016.

However, it shouldn’t shock anyone if Rose and Walker find themselves watching the tournament at home. Past evidence shows that Hodgson isn’t that big a fan as everyone else seems to be.