Rooney to lead ‘strong’ side

England manager Roy Hodgson says he will name a strong side led by regular captain Wayne Rooney for Thursday night’s friendly against Portugal.

But Hodgson says the XI who line up at Wembley are not necessarily certain starters when England begin their Euro 2016 campaign against Russia in Marseille on June 11.

Asked if he needed to experiment against Portugal, Hodgson said: “The first two preparation games [last week] were good in that respect, I don’t need to try anything out any more.

“But I would advise caution and I am not prepared to say the 11 that starts tomorrow will be the 11 that definitely starts against Russia.

“I don’t want to commit myself to a team against Russia in 10 days’ time.

“There will be at least four or five players who possibly deserve a place in the team and they are going to keep fighting for that place.

“But it will be a strong team against Portugal. Wayne Rooney will be the captain and will obviously play, but I am not prepared to give too much away in terms of the other players who will start …

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