England face their penultimate Euro 2016 warm-up friendly on Friday evening when they take on Australia at a sold-out Stadium of Light.
The Three Lions are just over two weeks away from their Group B opener against Russia at the Stade Velodrome, Marseille, and the stakes couldn’t be higher with 26 players vying for a place in Roy Hodgson’s final 23-man squad.
Friday’s international is the third England game hosted at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, with the Three Lions previously taking on Belgium in 1999 and Turkey in 2004.
England emerged victorious on both occasions and they will hoping to make it two wins from two in their Euro 2016 preparations, with the Three Lions defeating Turkey at the Etihad Stadium last weekend thanks to Jamie Vardy’s late winner.
The Leicester City striker will not feature at the Stadium of Light however, with England boss Hodgson allowing the 29-year-old time off to get married.
Daniel Sturridge could also miss out and his place in the final 23-man squad could be in doubt following his latest injury setback, but all eyes are already fixed elsewhere with Manchester United prodigy Marcus Rashford set to make his international debut.
The 18-year-old has been a revelation since bursting onto the scene in February 2016, with Rashford scoring twice on his debut in a 5-1 win over Midtjylland after receiving a late call-up to the starting XI following an injury to Anthony Martial.
It is fair to say the striker hasn’t looked back.After becoming United’s youngster ever scorer in European competition Rashford scored a second successive brace on his Premier League debut as the Red Devils defeated Arsenal, and he cemented his place in United folklore one month later as he netted the only goal in a 1-0 win over rivals Manchester City.
England manager Hodgson revealed earlier this week that Rashford will get the chance to impress, and if history tells us anything it’s that he'll probably take it.
United team-mates Chris Smalling and Wayne Rooney are also available for selection for the first time having missed last week’s win due to the FA Cup final, and Liverpool’s Nathaniel Clyne, Adam Lallana and James Milner are also likely to feature.
Jordan Henderson could start after coming off the bench in England’s win over Turkey, with the Sunderland academy graduate sure to get a marvellous ovation from the Stadium of Light faithful.
Follow all the action from what is sure to be an action-packed encounter by following @SunderlandAFC on Twitter, with full match build-up and reaction also available via safc.com.
