England 2-0 Estonia
by Amar Azam
at Wembley

WITH one last hurdle to overcome, Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2016-bound players will turn out against Lithuania tonight looking to preserve a perfect record.

Hodgson’s men head to Vilnius looking to become only the sixth nation to reach the finals of the competition with an unblemished record. Against the 116th ranked country in the world, England are one step away from that achievement after nine straight wins in qualification, including the latest one, against Estonia on Friday night.

And as the England manager cast his mind ahead to the Euro 2016 competition in France next summer, he reflected on the poor performances at the World Cup and insisted a fast start will be needed.

“That is how simple tournaments are,” said Hodgson. “For all your preparation and all your work, if you get there and play brilliantly in the first game but lose it to a dodgy penalty, you’re a disaster.

“That is what we’ve understood. We didn’t play badly against Italy [in Brazil 2014] but we lost and after that it’s downhill.”

He added: “What will give us a better chance [at Euro 16] is winning the first game — or certainly not losing it. We’ll also be a further year down the road working on the things we like to work on, our attacking and defending, and some of the young players we believe in will be a year older, a year more experienced.”

With a host of first-team stars out, Hodgson is expected to give starts to Jack Butland, winning his second England cap, but remained tight-lipped on Tottenham’s Dele Alli.

In addition, there could be room for Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy and Swansea City’s Jonjo Shelvey.