World Cup qualifying preview: Poland v England

Buoyant England head to Poland on Tuesday looking to stretch their lead atop Group 8 in World Cup qualifying.

Roy Hodgson’s team cast aside San Marino with a minimum of fuss in a 5-0 win at Wembley on Friday but are counting the cost after winger Theo Walcott came off worse for wear in a heavy challenge.

The Arsenal man was thundered into by San Marino shot-stopper Aldo Simoncini and will miss the Warsaw trip with a chest injury after coming off in the 10th minute from a ‘crude’ incident Hodgson was none too pleased with.

On the flip side, Wayne Rooney put in a sterling performance standing in for the first time as captain in the absence of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, notching his 31st goal to move himself to fifth on the all-time scorers list for England.

There were plenty of other aspects for England supporters to enjoy with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scoring his first goal for his country, while Danny Welbeck bagged a brace.

Welbeck will now almost certainly start against Poland alongside Rooney in a club-country partnership that continues to blossom.

England will have less than fond memories from their time at the Euros in Poland-Ukraine, though many of their poorer moments came in Ukraine.

England lead the group with seven points from three games and can create a healthy cushion with a win in Warsaw.

Poland have four points from their two games having beaten Moldova 2-0 in their opening home match in Wroclaw on September 11.

The Poles have plenty of understanding among their squad too, with Robert Lewandowski, captain Jakub Blaszczykowski and defender Lukasz Piszczek all on the books at German champions Borussia Dortmund.

Unfortunately for the hosts, Blaszczykowski will miss the clash with an ankle injury suffered while playing for Dortmund that could sideline him for up to six weeks.

Not everything is going smoothly for new coach Waldemar Fornalik either with Ludovic Obraniak (Bordeaux), Lewandowski and Piszczek the only three players in the squad enjoying regular first-team football.

Adding to the transition is Fornalik’s new formation with two strikers rather than the 4-5-1 adopted under the country’s former boss Franciszek Smuda.

Manchester United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak’s form on loan at Brighton in the Championship has seen him rewarded with the number one guernsey, beating off what has been a revolving door of keepers with Przemyslaw Tyton (PSV), Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski (both Arsenal) falling by the wayside for the time being.