England manager Roy Hodgson has been dealt a handful of injury problems ahead of his side's double-header of World Cup qualifiers, starting with Moldova at Wembley on Friday night.

Wayne Rooney, Phil Jones and Glen Johnson all picked up injuries at the weekend and have been ruled out.

The absence of Rooney is likely to hand an opportunity to Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge, providing that he can overcome a groin complaint, while the omission of right-backs Jones and Johnson should see Kyle Walker start in that position.

It was originally feared that Jack Wilshere would also miss the match when he came off for Arsenal before half time during the North London derby, but it has since revealed that he was suffering from a stomach upset and should be cleared to feature.

Despite Moldova's minnows status, Hodgson has been tipped to select a strong starting lineup, even though his side travel to Ukraine soon after.

England won the reverse fixture 5-0 in Chisinau back in September last year, while the last time the two nations met at Wembley, the home side ran out 4-0 victors thanks to goals from Paul Scholes, Paul Gascoigne and two from Ian Wright back in 1997.

Recent form

England: WWWLLD

Moldova: WWDDDW

Possible starting lineups

England: Hart; Walker, Jagielka, Cahill, Baines; Carrick, Gerrard, Wilshere, Walcott; Sturridge, Welbeck

Moldova: Pascenco; Epureanu, Golovatenco, Bulgaru, Suvorov; Ionita, Antoniuc, Sidorenco, Dedov, Gatcan; Grosu

Sports Mole says: 2-1

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