England take a break from their Euro 2012 qualification commitments on Wednesday when they take on France in an intriguing looking friendly clash.
Fabio Capello may opt to ring the changes for their Gallic test with a number of players struggling for fitness.
Darren Bent, Jermain Defoe and Michael Dawson are out while huge concerns remain over Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney for the Wembley showdown.
This could open the door for Newcastle United striker Andy Carroll and Birmingham City defender Roger Johnson to be called into the Three Lions set-up after a number of eye-catching displays this term.
Whoever is named in the Italian tactician’s starting team, he will be demanding a telling response following their hugely disappointing goalless draw with Montenegro in October.
After cruising to early victories over Bulgaria and Switzerland in their quest to secure their place at the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine in the summer of 2012, their Group G standing looked somewhat comfortable.
But the minor setback sees Montenegro sit atop the table at this early stage, but now the men in white have the chance to pit their wits against the 1998 World Cup winners.
Now under the guidance of Laurent Blanc, Les Bleus have endured a difficult time in recent times after their explosive World Cup departure in South Africa.
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The summer event highlighted their problems with Raymond Domenech at the helm and, after several key players boycotted training in the aftermath of Nicolas Anelka’s spat with the head coach, the French Football Association was in meltdown.
Anelka was subsequently handed an 18-match suspension after a commission’s findings, with captain Patrice Evra dealt a five-match ban and vice-captain Franck Ribery punished for three games for their roles in the saga.
Jeremy Toulalan was dropped for one game, but Barcelona full-back Eric Abidal went unpunished, despite being investigated.
Blanc’s competitive start in the hot-seat ended in disaster when they crashed 1-0 at home to Belarus, but the dust now appears to be settling on the back of three straight victories.
Successive 2-0 triumphs over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Luxembourg have placed them at the top of the tree and they are starting to show promise.
The last time the cross-Channel foes faced each other was at Stade de France in March 2008.
France came out on top with a 1-0 friendly success thanks to a 32nd-minute penalty from Ribery after goalkeeper David James had pole-axed the marauding Anelka.
