A RAFT OF injury-enforced withdrawals means England coach Roy Hodgson has no choice but to experiment in his side’s final game of 2012 away to Sweden on Wednesday.
Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott, Kyle Walker, Aaron Lennon and Jonjo Shelvey all pulled out of the squad on Sunday, after Ashley Cole, Joleon Lescott, James Milner, Frank Lampard and Jack Rodwell had already been declared unavailable.
Hodgson was rebuffed in his attempts to select Tottenham Hotspur striker Jermain Defoe and Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain due to fitness concerns, and having elected to omit midfielders Gareth Barry and Michael Carrick, he finds himself left with an inexperienced squad for the friendly.
The chief beneficiaries are likely to be the newcomers and the players on the periphery of Hodgson’s plans for the 2014 World Cup.
Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling, Everton midfielder Leon Osman and Spurs defender Steven Caulker will all make their senior debuts and have been named in England’s starting line-up.
Also hoping to be awarded a first cap are 20-year-old Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha, Chelsea left-back Ryan Bertrand, Stoke City centre-back Ryan Shawcross, Arsenal full-back Carl Jenkinson and Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
At the other end of the experience spectrum, Steven Gerrard is set to win his 100th cap when he leads the team out as captain at Stockholm’s new Friends Arena.
The Liverpool man will become only the sixth man to reach the 100-cap threshold for England, after Peter Shilton, David Beckham, Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Billy Wright.
He will be partnered in midfield by Manchester United’s Tom Cleverley with Jack Wilshere, who returns to the fold after a 17-month injury lay-off, on the bench.
Hodgson began his coaching career in Sweden, working at Halmstads, Orebro and Malmo, and he led England to a 3-2 win over Wednesday’s opponents when they met in the group phase at Euro 2012 in June.
Like England, Sweden, who are in Group C with Ireland, have made an unbeaten start to their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, and with coach Erik Hamren having selected a strong squad, Hodgson says he anticipates a keenly contested match.
I think the rivalry between Sweden and England has been a fierce one and Sweden have made life very difficult for England over the years,” he told FATV.
“Their record against us is very good and they’ll certainly be interested on this occasion to get some revenge for the defeat in the Euros.”
Sweden’s last outing saw them rally from four goals down to draw 4-4 with Germany in an unforgettable encounter in Berlin last month.
Paris Saint-Germain superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the catalyst behind the comeback against the Germans, is expected to start against England, but Hamren has hinted that he will also experiment.
“We have a team that is still inexperienced in a lot of positions,” he said.
“To get as much game-time as possible together is the ambition. Now we have a change of stadium and we obviously want to win here, too.”
