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| Roy Hodgson hopes for a perfect ten tonight |
JACK BUTLAND will don the goalkeeper gloves and Kyle Walker is poised to slot in at right-back. Should Danny Ings make his debut at some point, England will have used the equivalent of three teams in their pursuit of a perfect Euro 2016 qualifying record.
Roy Hodgson was "surprised" when informed he has turned to 30 different players thus far during a successful campaign that ends against Lithuania on a plastic pitch, which will be soaked by the local fire brigade before kick-off.
For all the talk that tonight is about experimentation, the reality shows it has actually been 13 months of chopping and changing by the England coach. Much of which has been enforced but, on other occasions, fuelled by a desire to give youth its head.
The build-up has been low key though Hodgson briefly bristled when it was suggested he has tossed caps around like confetti - Tottenham teenager Dele Alli being the latest beneficiary with a cameo against Estonia reward for only a handful of Premier League appearances - and denied playing for England has been devalued.
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| Kyle Walker looks set to start at right back in the Euro 2016 qualifier |
"It's not a situation where, the moment you kick the ball correctly from A to B, you'll get in the England team," he said. "It's not like that at all.
"But if you do come in and make an impact as a young player, and then there are a lot of injuries in the first-team it is an opportunity.
"I said to him (Alli) that I'm pleased to have him here, he's here on merit, and he can handle the pressures. But I did say to him that there's a good chance you'll be with the U21s the next time. Don't think you're a senior player.
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| Liverpool's Danny Ings is a likely to get some game time against Lithuania |
"You're an England player, but whether you're in the seniors or in the U21s we will see."
To add context, Germany have used 29 players, Republic of Ireland 25 and Wales and Scotland both 24 to date in qualifying and Hodgson must hope he is in a position to demote Alli when he names his squad for November's heavyweight showdowns with Spain and France.
If only because it would mean some of his walking wounded have returned.
Next summer's European Championships are still nine months away, but already the worry lines can be detected on the manager's forehead with his midfield becoming a real area of concern.
Jordan Henderson, Fabian Delph, Jack Wilshere and Michael Carrick are injured, James Milner is rested, and the triumvirate which will start is likely to include both Ross Barkley and Jonjo Shelvey who boast just six starts between them.
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| Roy Hodgson and his England side are bidding to complete a perfect Euro 2016 qualifying campaign |
The repeated absences of Wilshere and Carrick, in particular, serve as a worry given the specialist nature of the deep-lying roles they have performed.
Pressure falls upon Shelvey to catch the eye, therefore, because however much Hodgson wants to play a full strength side against A-list opposition next month, he is realistic enough to know that may not be the case.
"We have a good idea of the core that we'd like going forward, but we tend to get a lot of injuries," he lamented. "No sooner do you have a player pencilled in as a good one for the future in a position, you lose him to injury.
"Qualification for the World Cup went down to the wire. We had to win our last two matches to be certain of qualifying.
"(When we did experiment) we were playing Chile and Germany, two top teams, (and lost).
"We've had time in qualifiers this time to see a lot of players because we had a lot of injuries. Now we are going to concentrate on a core group who, if they're all fit, will be with us in France.
"It won't be a moment to give someone a chance because he's scored a goal on a Saturday. People will have to work very hard to break into the group now."
That is the ideal scenario. That Phil Jones is the only likely starter here who also began the opening Group E game against Switzerland back in September 2014 shows how it seldom goes to plan for England.
Victory over the Swiss set the ball rolling and only five teams have ever had a 100pc record in qualifying, although one team made it count.
France went out of the group stage in 92 and then the quarter-finals in 2004, Czech Republic departed at the group stage in 2000 and Germany in the semi-finals in 2012.
Spain are the only side to win all their qualifiers and then lift the trophy with their success in 2012.
England will look to get the job done first and worry what it means later.
Lithuania (4-4-2):Arlauskis; Freidgeimas, Mikuckis, Klimavicius, Slavickas; Cernych, Zulpa, Panka, Novikovas; Matulevi?ius, Spalvis
England (4-3-3): Butland; Walker, Jones, Jagielka, Gibbs; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shelvey, Barkley; Townsend, Kane, Vardy.
Referee: Kenn Hansen (Denmark)
TV: ITV 1
Kick-off: 7.45pm
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