England face Japan at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night in their second friendly of the international break, but it could be a more familiar match for the Three Lions side.
Thomas Tuchel made a number of decisions against Japan (Image: Getty Images)
Thomas Tuchel will take the cannon home for England’s final friendly at Wembley before the World Cup. England manager Tuchel is expected to make significant changes to the experimental squad that played in the draw against Uruguay ahead of the match against Japan.
Harry Kane has returned to the current 27-man squad and will train on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s friendly.
Tuchel named 35 players for back-to-back friendlies, but gave some players who had played the most minutes for their clubs last week off.
Dean Henderson, Nico O’Reilly, Ezri Konsa, Mark Guehi, Dan Byrne, Elliott Anderson, Morgan Rogers and Anthony Gordon all rejoined the group after watching Friday’s friendly at Wembley.
However, eight players left, with Aaron Ramsdale, Fikayo Tomori and Dominic Calvert-Lewin returning to their pre-arranged clubs.
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John Stones, Adam Wharton and Noni Madueke all returned from injury last week. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka have also returned to Arsenal for medical tests, meaning England will not be able to use a full squad against Japan.
However, Tuchel sees the match against Uruguay as a huge opportunity for individuals, and it is clear that James Garner and Dom Solanke have performed well enough to retain.
But as the World Cup team begins to take shape, the match against Japan will be seen as a proper warm-up with a more high-profile starting lineup.
Tuchel insisted the Uruguay experiment had gone well, adding: “I would say I was looking forward to that game. We had a good training session and we had a lively group so I was looking forward to it.”
Harry Kane is in contention to play against Japan (Image: Getty Images)
“I really liked this group. I was excited to coach them. I was so happy when we did it. It looked like we won. But it was good. It was great.”
“I was happy to see everyone back. We need to make sure they’re ready for the Japan game.”
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