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| Dele Alli and Eric Dier are set to make their full England debuts in midfield |
DELE ALLI and Eric Dier are set to make their full debuts for a youthful England side against France tonight.
England manager Roy Hodgson could include at least five players aged 22 or under after his squad was further depleted by injuries with Fabian Delph's withdrawal, meaning 17 senior internationals are unavailable.
Tottenham duo Dier and Alli will feature along with club-mate Harry Kane, while John Stones, Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley are also in Hodgson's thoughts.
But Manchester United winger Jesse Lingard will not start following his late call-up.
"There will be 11 on the field, many quite young, making debuts even," said Hodgson. "It'll be a big night for them. We mustn't forget that's an important moment for them, and we want them to enjoy playing football.
"I hope when the whistle goes it'll be about football: the French trying to beat us, and us them."
Hodgson revealed he had spoken to United manager Louis van Gaal about Lingard and that the winger's promotion was too soon.
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| Jesse Lingard, after his first senior call-up, is likely to be on the bench |
"Under normal circumstances we wouldn't have been considering Jesse at this time even though he's a very interesting player," said Hodgson, who admits his plans for Euro 2016 are four months behind schedule.
He had planned to field full-strength teams in the two matches against Spain and France only to see his plans wrecked.
He is now praying his catalogue of injured players can return by March, when his side faces matches against Germany and Holland. Euro 2016 starts just two months later.
"We were looking at these games as giving us options to explore, but we've not been able to put out and work on the team we'd envisaged," said Hodgson. "That will now have to be delayed until March.
"Hopefully if we get enough games before the Euros, we'll still get four or five where we can work more on the team that might start the tournament.
"A lot of our players have not played much Premier League football. We have good players and good potential, but once you take 14 or more out, you will be left with some players without much experience. That's okay. That's what we've got. It's a fact of life. It's a great opportunity for these boys.
"We have 14 players who would normally be selected who are not here, and we've lost a further three.
"Our midfield and front areas have been hit hard. I'd hope that, by March, a few of those will be with us again."
The defeat in Spain was England's first in 16 matches, since the 2014 World Cup. Michael Carrick and Fabian Delph were casualties from that match, with Jamie Vardy also ruled out.
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