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Welbeck wants to take centre stage

Danny Welbeck scored both goals as England beat Switzerland 2-0 © Getty Images

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Danny Welbeck has told Roy Hodgson that his best position is as a central striker for England.

Welbeck gave Arsene Wenger a strong indication that he is ready to play up front at Arsenal with two well-taken finishes at St Jakob-Park as England ran out 2-0 winners against Switzerland.

The striker was often used out wide at Manchester United, where he scored 29 goals in 142 appearances, before securing a £16 million deadline day move to the Emirates Stadium having grown frustrated at a lack of opportunities up front.

Hodgson has also utilised Welbeck's versatility in the past, playing him on the flanks at the World Cup, but revealed the striker has repeatedly told him where he feels he can contribute most.

Welbeck wrapped up the win in injury time with his second © Getty Images

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"I speak to him often and often I've heard him say - I've asked him what his best position is - centre-forward, but he understands fully that position wasn't available to him in the past in an England shirt.

"Others have got in the team before him. He's understood the need to do the job elsewhere. We changed the formation towards the end of the game and he was pushed wide and Raheem on the other side.

"He's never complained. He's always said he'd play where I wanted him to play, but I've never been left in doubt that he wanted to play centrally."

The victory got Hodgson's side off to the perfect start in their Euro 2016 qualification campaign, in what will likely be their toughest fixture.

Hodgson also claimed that the win proved that his young side were ready to put their disastrous World Cup campaign behind them, with Switzerland handed their first defeat at home since September 2010 when Fabio Capello led England to a 3-1 victory.

Like on Monday night, Capello's side had been reeling from their own disappointing World Cup in South Africa and Hodgson feels England proved they are on the right track, having come in for criticism after the dull 1-0 friendly win over Norway at Wembley last week.

He said: "We had an unfortunate time in Brazil which was a kick in the teeth. Now we can pick up our teeth, put them in and we go again.

"The players took enormous responsibility. We've been pushing that for a while now, about ownership and them making certain it's not just listening and following instructions, but understanding them and believing and knowing they can do it.

"We did that from the first minute. This was always going to be a difficult game because Switzerland don't lose at home. The last time was when England beat them.

"We missed some chances early on but, when Danny eventually scored, it was going to open up on the counter-attack. We can do that with the youth and energy of the team, and that showed to good effect.

"These are our talented players. This is the way forward. We've got to back them.

"I'm pleased we adopted a bold approach, asked a lot of these players, but only because if it's going to work in the future, if this group of players is to become any good, we've got to do it from the start.

"We had to go from the start as we mean to continue, and luckily we got the start which will help us."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd