England will attempt to move top of Group H ahead of their clash with Montenegro when they travel to San Marino on Friday.

Three points would be enough to move Roy Hodgson's side to the summit should Montenegro fail to win in Moldova, with the two sides preparing to clash next week.

San Marino are often regarded as one of the worst national sides in history having failed to win a single qualification match, although they did pick up a 1-0 win over Liechtenstein in a friendly clash in 2004.

The two sides have met three times in their history with England running out 5-0 winners last year, while the Three Lions were also 6-0 and 7-1 winners in 1993.

San Marino have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the match and are therefore expected to pair Danilo Rinaldi and Matteo Vitaioli in attack once more.

England boss Hodgson has major problems in defence, however, with Rio Ferdinand pulling out of the squad at the final moment, while Gary Cahill and Michael Dawson have also withdrawn through injury.

Jack Wilshere is also unavailable, although Newcastle United's Steven Taylor could make his Three Lions debut if selected ahead of Chris Smalling, who has found first-team chances hard to come by at Manchester United this season.

Wayne Rooney is expected to lead the attack alongside United teammate Danny Welbeck, but Frank Lampard will reportedly start on the bench.

Recent form

San Marino: LLLLL

England: DWDLW

Possible lineups

San Marino: Simoncini; Valle, Benedettini, Bollini, Cervellini; Palazzi, Vannucci, Cibelli, Coppini; Rinaldi, Vitaioli

England: Hart; Johnson, Smalling, Lescott, Cole; Walcott, Cleverley, Gerrard, Milner; Rooney, Welbeck

Sports Mole says: 0-4

Written by
Matt Law

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