England will continue their quest to reach the 2014 World Cup in Brazil on Friday evening.
Moldova are the visitors to Wembley Stadium, who England thrashed 5-0 in the reverse fixture almost exactly a year ago.
Roy Hodgson’s team are second in Group H, two points behind Montenegro and one ahead of Ukraine, who they visit on Tuesday.
Without Manchester United‘s Wayne Rooney due to a gashed head and Liverpool‘s Daniel Sturridge because of a thigh problem, England will turn to Rickie Lambert up front.
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The Southampton man scored with his first international touch after coming off the bench against Scotland last month.
Hodgson’s headaches haven’t only been in attack – defenders Phil Jones and Glen Johnson have also withdrawn from the ‘Three Lions’ squad – but England should still claim a win.
“I don’t subscribe to that theory that this is an easy one (game) and this is a difficult one, and then you’ve got a fairly easy one and a fairly difficult one… I don’t quantify qualifying games in that way. I mean, Moldova, after our initial victory against them when I thought we played very well – and it was their first (group) game as well – (I) don’t know whether we took them by surprise, we had a very good win, but since that time they’ve proven very, very hard to beat. And we know that they’re going to be very hard to beat tomorrow night and we’re going to need to be at our best to do it…. and I need my best players, or what I think are the best players, to enable me to do that.”
Roy Hodgson, England coach
(Following comments from FA Chairman Greg Dyke this week that England are not realistic contenders to win the 2014 World Cup).
“So let’s first of all qualify, let’s try then to get a little bit better before Brazil comes around – and then let’s do our best to win it. And that’s I’m sure what he’s thinking too because I’ve had lots of conversations with Greg privately, and I know that’s his thoughts on the subject and that’s how he sees it.”
Roy Hodgson, England coach
(On first group match against Moldova – a 5-0 win).
“Well, to be honest with you, I think that goes to show how good we were away from home, you know how aggressive we was from the first kick-off – and the game was won at half-time really. And hopefully that’s the case tomorrow night. We certainly need to start the game well and take the game to them. The pressure’s on us to win the game, we accept that, and we’re confident we can get the job done.”
Steven Gerrard, England captain
