Former Liverpool fitness chief Peter Brukner says Andy Carroll deserves his England place after committing to a new health regime.

Brukner spent considerable time with Carroll following his arrival from Newcastle with a thigh injury last year.

Speaking for the first time since leaving Anfield last month, Brukner told the Mail on Sunday: "Andy arrived in January last year with a long-term injury which meant he would struggle to regain full fitness for the rest of that season - Andy would probably also admit that he had not done a lot of fitness work while at Newcastle.

"Initially he struggled adapting to the different culture at Liverpool but, over the past six months, he has started to embrace the culture and work harder on his fitness. After initially being a reluctant gym user, he is now in there every day.

"Andy has worked closely with Liverpool's head of fitness Darren Burgess and the results can be seen; he has significantly reduced his body fat and his game stats show he is sprinting much more."