ROSS Barkley has to start for England in Thursday’s crunch Group D game against Uruguay, according to Terras’ legend Anni Iannone.

The former Weymouth striker was thrilled to see his Italy side beat Roy Hodgson’s men on Saturday, but he felt England were unlucky not to claim a point in Manaus.

Steve Gerrard and co now face a crucial clash with the Uruguayans in Sao Paulo, and Iannone believes Everton hot-shot Barkley should feature from the kick-off.

“I think that Roy Hodgson has got to play Ross Barkley from the start,” he said. “He has got pace and you can’t beat pace.

“Look at the Spain versus Holland game and the last goal from Arjen Robben, he gave the defender a five-yard start over 30 yards and completely did him for pace.

“In today’s game, pace means everything. I think Barkley should start against Uruguay and I would put him in for Jordan Henderson.

“Barkley makes things happen and you need someone like him in the team.”

Reflecting on Italy’s 2-1 win on Saturday night,” he added: “It was a good game and England played pretty well. It could have been a draw and I think that would have been a fair result.

“I was happy with the win and hopefully we can get a good result against Costa Rica and go through to the next stage. But look what they did against Uruguay. That was a bit of a shock but it shows how much countries like that have come on over the last 30 years.”