Euro 2016: England vs Lithuania is the final audition for fringe players as Roy Hodgson looks for settled squad

Hodgson said he hoped both Carrick and Wilshere would be fit to play in France, but knows from bitter experience there are no guarantees

Jonjo Shelvey trains with the England squad in Lithuania yesterday (Getty)

Roy Hodgson will conduct his final audition for England’s Got Talent on Monday tonight, in an arena that would not look out of place in the Vanarama National League, on a surface that players will fear as much as trust.

The LFF Stadium is neat and modern, but holds just 5,000 people, has no spectators behind one goal, and a plastic pitch. It is not the setting which Jonjo Shelvey, Jamie Vardy and Kieran Gibbs would have chosen on which to demonstrate they have the X-factor Hodgson wants at Euro 2016.

Nevertheless, they will have to overcome any reservations about their footing, and disregard the modest surroundings, because Hodgson has made clear the auditions finish with this match. From now on in, he will be honing his first team with a series of testing friendlies beginning with next month’s matches away to Spain and at home to France.

“Our qualification for the World Cup went down to the wire,” said Hodgson, explaining how he then had to use friendlies to assess players. He added: “This time we’ve seen a lot of players in qualifiers because we had a lot of injuries. Now we are going to concentrate on a core group who, if they’re all fit, will be with us in France. It won’t be a moment to give someone a chance because he’s scored a goal on a Saturday. People will have to work very hard to break into the group.”

The player with most to gain is Shelvey, who Hodgson said will fill the creative deep-lying midfield role originally designed for Jack Wilshere. The Arsenal midfielder’s recurrent injury problems, and similar issues with Michael Carrick, mean that place may be up for grabs.

Hodgson said he hoped both Carrick and Wilshere would be fit to play in France, but knows from bitter experience there are no guarantees. He added of his many injured players: “I’m optimistic they will recover fully and I will be able to consider them. I know they have the quality and talent I’m looking for. I’m also realistic. I can only pencil them in. I have to hope for the best.” There have been so many injuries Jack Butland, given a chance to cement his position as Joe Hart’s understudy, a role he only holds at present due to Ben Foster’s injury, will become the 31st player used in the 10 qualifiers.

“We’ve had an enormous amount of injuries,” said Hodgson. “We have a good idea of the core that we’d like going forward, but we tend to get a lot of injuries. No sooner do you have a player pencilled in as a good one for the future in a position, you lose him to injury.” That, he added, explained the inclusion of Dele Alli after a handful of Premier League matches.

Also seeking to profit from others’ absence will be Gibbs, Vardy and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Andros Townsend, who seems to be regarded more highly by Hodgson than by Mauricio Pochettino, should also get playing time. There is even a possibility Alli could be given a surprise start.

This will only be England’s second international to be played on artificial turf. The first, in Moscow eight years ago, ended in a defeat to Russia that helped cost Steve McClaren’s side a place at Euro 2008. Wayne Rooney, the only member of the current squad to play that night is absent, injured so there will be no bad memories to recall.

The others may, though, still be wary. On Saturday night Tim Krul suffered a knee injury playing for the Netherlands on another artificial pitch, in Astana, with Dutch manager Danny Blind suggesting the surface may have been the cause. Although players tend to have reservations about artificial pitches there is no conclusive evidence they cause injury, but they can be tough on the joints and as a precaution Gary Cahill was left out for fear of inflaming a back problem.

This pitch has short ‘grass’ but no built-in sprinkler system. Last night, the local fire brigade were called in to water it but had a problem with their hoses so England, unhappily, had to train on a dry surface. They will look to ensure the surface is watered tonight.

Even if the pitch proves something of a leveller, England should still be comfortably superior to their hosts. Lithuanian football is in a mess. The domestic game is riddled with economic difficulties compounded by a reputation for match-fixing which has disillusioned fans.

The national team is little better. Such is the dearth of quality in England’s group they can still, technically, qualify for a play-off – but as that requires them to beat England tonight, and Slovenia lose to San Marino, it is a theoretical possibility only.

Phil Jagielka will lead England. Surprisingly, for such a famous club, he is the first Evertonian to do so. He, at least, will feel as if the venue is Wembley, Maracana and Nou Camp all rolled into one.