The 68-year-old opted to select five strikers, including Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Daniel Sturridge and 18-year-old Marcus Rashford, who made his global debut five days ago.
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The Football Association is expecting the entire squad to be fit for England’s Group B opener against Russian Federation on June 11, even if tomorrow’s final warm-up match against Portugal comes too soon.
The Three Lions begin their campaign against Russian Federation on June 11 before also facing Wales and Slovakia in Group B.
Rashford will be the youngest player at the Euros at 18 years and 214 days, with the next youngest player being Bayern Munich’s new Portuguese signing Renato Sanches, who is two months older than the Manchester United striker.
The England team pose for a team photo prior to a friendly soccer match between Germany and England in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, March 26, 2016.
Hodgson was keen to see how Jack Wilshere and Jordan Henderson fared on their return from injury, with the midfielders playing a part in both the Turkey and Australia friendlies.
Ryan Bertrand is set to miss England’s final Euro 2016 warm-up game against Portugal – but is still expected to be fit in time for the tournament.
Drinkwater made 32 more Premier League appearances than Wilshere last season and ended up a title victor – but Hodgson has chose to gamble on Wilshere’s fitness in France even though he made only three appearances for Arsenal during the last campaign, two as a substitute.
The rest of the squad were informed of Hodgson’s selections at a team meeting shortly afterwards.
England have confirmed their final 23-man squad for this summer’s European Championship in France.
Drinkwater and Townsend said goodbye to everyone involved before leaving the England camp and will not be on standby for the tournament. “I’m hoping we’ll go past the first three games and to do that I’ll need more than XI players”.
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Fabian Delph, the Manchester City midfielder, had previously dropped out of the squad due to a groin problem. The clash with Portugal, however, will provide players with a final opportunity to stake a claim for a starting position.
