Wednesday 1 June 2016 23:47, UK
England manager Roy Hodgson says he will name a strong side led by regular captain Wayne Rooney for Thursday night's friendly against Portugal.
But Hodgson says the XI who line up at Wembley are not necessarily certain starters when England begin their Euro 2016 campaign against Russia in Marseille on June 11.
Asked if he needed to experiment against Portugal, Hodgson said: "The first two preparation games [last week] were good in that respect, I don't need to try anything out any more.
"But I would advise caution and I am not prepared to say the 11 that starts tomorrow will be the 11 that definitely starts against Russia.
"I don't want to commit myself to a team against Russia in 10 days' time.
"There will be at least four or five players who possibly deserve a place in the team and they are going to keep fighting for that place.
"But it will be a strong team against Portugal. Wayne Rooney will be the captain and will obviously play, but I am not prepared to give too much away in terms of the other players who will start tomorrow."
Nonetheless, Hodgson says he has had an idea of his likely team to face Russia in mind for quite a while.
"I have been close for a long time, because these are players that I have worked with for a long period of time," he said.
"If you take out Marcus Rashford, who really is a new boy on the block, there is no one in there whose game I don't know really well.
"I know the players, I know what they can bring, and we are capable of playing against Russia almost with two elevens.
"That might be a slight exaggeration but not far off, so headaches still exist in terms of the final 11 but, anyway, I am also hoping we will go beyond the first three games, and to do that I shall need more than 11 players."
England are due to lock horns with Gareth Bale's Wales side in their second match at Euro 2016 on June 18.
With that in mind, Hodgson is disappointed that Bale's Real team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo will be absent from the Portugal line-up on Thursday as he has been given extra time off following the Champions League final.
"To be honest, one of the things we thought about with Portugal would have been the fact that Ronaldo is a very special player, a very special talent," said Hodgson.
"Of course he has been an unbelievably influential figure for all the clubs he has played for and Portugal as well, and we were thinking that Gareth Bale is in a somewhat similar position.
"So when we thought Portugal, we were thinking not only about their technical qualities and the fact they are a very good football team, but they also have a special individual.
"I believe now that might not be the case but we're happy with the two opponents we've had so far. They've certainly put us to the test.
"I've been able to use quite a lot of players in those two games and we expect another tough test tomorrow night.
"But, if we can get through that test and come away satisfied with what we've done, and I can be satisfied with what I've seen, then I'd have to say the three preparation games have served their purpose."
