Roy Hodgson to play second string in Costa Rica clash #TheElitePartyInJuly #Entertain9jar via @myentertain9jar

ROY HODGSON will risk recording England's worst World Cup performance by sending out a second-string team against Costa Rica tomorrow.

 

Jack Wilshere is likely to get a start after being benched for England's first two games[PA]

The move is not against FIFA's rules but could infuriate Italy or Uruguay if it hands the surprise package Costa Ricans a simple pathway towards finishing top of Group D.

Hodgson's team cannot reach the last 16 after losing to Italy and Uruguay so Hodgson will send out a side captained by Frank Lampard rather than Steven Gerrard.

Italy or Uruguay - who meet in Natal - could top the group if one side are victorious by a big margin or England run up a wide victory in Belo Horizonte.

Hodgson said: "I'm going to be picking the team with a view that all the players who are with us get some minutes on the field.

"I will be changing the team to give others a chance to show what they can do. It's not purely about planning for the future and it's not purely sentiment.

"It is being done to give a chance to players going home from this World Cup - too early and bitterly disappointed - able to say they were not here to make up the numbers, but that they actually took part."

It could mean a side which will kick-off like this: Foster; Johnson, Jones, Smalling, Shaw; Lampard, Wilshere; Lallana, Barkley, Milner; Lambert.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss out after suffering a recurrence of the knee injury that forced him to miss the start of the tournament. Left-back Leighton Baines will also be absent with a hamstring injury.