Mario Balotelli is again set to lead Italy's attack against Uruguay on Tuesday after his impressive display in the win over Poland.

Balotelli and Giampaolo Pazzini replaced injured starting forwards Giuseppe Rossi and Antonio Cassano in Friday's game and both scored to earn Italy a 2-0 victory.

It was Balotelli's commanding performance that attracted praise, as well as his first international goal and Italy coach Cesare Prandelli believes the player can do even better against Uruguay.

"You still have to prove yourself even after a 100 games," Prandelli said. "But in Balotelli's case tomorrow will be easier for him because he has already shown what a player he is."

Balotelli will be partnered up front by Pablo Osvaldo instead of Pazzini.

"I expect Mario and Osvaldo to be the first to tackle when they lose the ball," Prandelli said. "In today's football when you're intercepted you have to press immediately, Italy can't do what it did in the first 25 minutes in Wroclaw.

"We have to dominate our opponents' half. And of course I expect goals from them."

Prandelli will again use Riccardo Montolivo as the link between midfield and attack, before bringing on Simone Pepe and switching to 4-3-3 in the second half.

"I'm doing that because I want to start with things we didn't do well in the last game," Prandelli said. "I want to understand whether those first 25 minutes in which we were in difficulty were because we were playing with two attackers who were different to the usual ones or whether now, without Cassano and Rossi, who got back a lot to help their teammates, there are structural problems.

"In that case I would have to start being concerned and see about changing something, not in terms of personnel but the formation."

Italy are in for a tough test against Uruguay, who beat Chile 4-0 on Friday and are fourth in the Fifa world rankings - two places above the Azzurri.

"This game is the most significant test for us since I started coaching the national team," Prandelli said. "They are one of the strongest squads at international level, a few months ago they won the Coppa America, and they have people with skill and a lot of personality."

Luis Suarez will play no part the friendly after he suffered a knock during his four goal starring role in the 2014 World Cup qualifying 4-0 win over Chile on Saturday.

Top striker Diego Forlan is still out after he was injured in a 1-1 draw at Paraguay last month.

"Forlan is an irreplaceable player," Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said. "We don't have another footballer with his characteristics, but I have a national team which surprises."

Tabarez has made several changes to the team that routed Chile. Goalkeeper Juan Castillo and attacker Sebastian Abreu are left out, while Emiliano Alfano and Diego Rodriguez have recovered from slight injuries and make the trip to Rome.

Tuesday's match is also a celebration of 150 years of Italian unification. Prandelli said before the Poland match he was extra keen to win to provide some happiness to the Italian people in the midst of the financial crisis that has struck the country and forced Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to resign on Saturday.