Sam Allardyce has confessed that he is beginning to feel the nerves as he prepares to take charge of his first game as England manager.
The Three Lions face Slovakia in their opening World Cup 2018 qualifying fixture on Sunday evening in Trnava, marking the start of a new post-Roy Hodgson era for the national side.
It will be a particularly special occasion for Allardyce, who has always maintained that managing England is a lifetime's ambition of his, and the former Sunderland boss admits that he had to think hard about which side to pick.
"I think there will be nerves," he told reporters. "Every new job you get, you are nervous. You hope your players go out and do your talking and deliver what you want - a victory. So I will be nervous in the early stages.
"But once the game starts, the focus on the game kicks in and I don't hear the crowd around me and I will be thinking about how I communicate with the team to make the changes I need to. There was deliberation over everybody. The exciting thing for me has been the quality of the players and the energy but also the camaraderie.
"The selection process was quite a difficult one based on how Slovakia play and how our players play every day. It falls upon me to make a difficult decision but I think this team is the strongest to go out and beat Slovakia."
Allardyce has taken the unorthodox step of naming his starting lineup two days before the match, making three changes in all from the 2-1 defeat to Iceland at the round-of-16 stage of Euro 2016.
Daniel Lewis
