England manager Roy Hodgson has admitted that his squad lacks depth ahead of their friendly match against Scotland on Wednesday.
The Three Lions are missing a number of players to injury, most notably up front where Southampton striker Rickie Lambert was included for the first time, alongside Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe and Danny Welbeck.
With Rooney and Defoe also struggling with injuries, Hodgson admitted that the forward area is a particularly problematic one, while also acknowledging that his side does not have the depth that previous England sides have enjoyed.
"[England coach] Gary Neville was talking today about the past and reeling off the names of 10 or 12 class players who were vying for two positions," PA quotes Hodgson as saying.
"We are not in that position, we haven't been in that position and we are not likely to be in that position between now and the end of October but I do believe the players we have are more that capable of doing their job.
"We are short of forward players in particular. If you go through all of the candidates, you still don't get to more than seven or eight. Then you are talking about people who might not have played [for England] for a number of years."
England's match against Scotland will be their last before returning to World Cup qualifying action with vital matches against Moldova and Ukraine in September.
Barney Corkhill
