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Hodgson not settled on England starting line-up

Roy Hodgson admits he is not settled on his starting XI for England's opening Euro2012 fixture against France on June 11.

The Three Lions boss has had to deal with recent injuries to the likes of Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard, leaving him short on midfield depth, and he says he is no closer to figuring out his starting line-up for the match in Donetsk.

But England host Belgium in a friendly at Wembley tomorrow and Hodgson sees that as the perfect match for him to get his formation and line-up right and cast his eye over a few who came to England camp late (Chelsea's Ashley Cole, John Terry and Gary Cahill).

"It's a balancing job. It's a preparation game, a warm-up game, a friendly game," he told Sky Sports News HD.

"I wasn't able to use a lot of the players in the last game (against Norway) because they played for Chelsea in the Champions League final and we have given them an extra week's recovery, so it's pretty obvious that I want to look at some of those players in the game.

"As far as Steven (Gerrard) and Scott (Parker) are concerned, I'm quite happy to continue with them in the middle of midfield.

"The back four and goalkeeper will obviously change and then I have got to still to wrestle with the problem of what we are going to do in the wide areas and up front and try to get that balance right between making certain that players that will start the game against France get more time on the field, without taking time from other players that I want to have a look at.

"I have decided on the back four and the goalkeeper and I have decided on the two central midfield players, but the other four positions I want to give that more consideration. You will have to wait until tomorrow to find out who I have selected in those positions."

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Andrew Slevison
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