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Hodgson will start strong England side against Portugal, but no hint on Russia XI

Roy Hodgson insists he will go with a fairly strong line-up for England's final Euro2016 warm-up match on Thursday.

The Three Lions meet Portugal at Wembley and it will be close to a first-choice XI according to reports, although Hodgson was not prepared to give anything away.

England will then look ahead to their opening Group B fixture which comes in the form of Russia in Marseille on June 11 but Hodgson says the Portugal game must come first before even thinking about their tournament opener.

"The first two preparation games [last week] were good in that respect, I don't need to try anything out any more," he said.

"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 tomorrow."

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Andrew Slevison
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