All smiles: Hodgson will treat Saturday's game merely as preparation for Euro 2012

It’s how everyone needs to see it, even if defeated at the Ullevaal Stadion. It is not about Saturday night. It is not about next Saturday’s encounter with Belgium at Wembley. It is about France and finding the team he will send out against the French.

Hodgson might become only the second England manager to lose his first game but when that other manager is Sir Alf Ramsey, he would not be in bad company. Judging by what has been happening in training these past few days, France is his priority.

He has it in his mind to start with two forwards against Laurent Blanc’s side and he gave enough away on Friday to suggest as much. Steven Gerrard, he said, would be playing in central midfield alongside Scott Parker, with Ashley Young starting in the hole behind Andy Carroll. He is also looking long and hard at the threat Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain might pose on the right wing.

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