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Barkley and Dier fighting for Euros starting spot

THE friendly matches against Germany on Saturday and Holland on Tuesday will be the last chance for England’s players to impress before Roy Hodgson names his Euro 2016 squad but according to Sky Bet’s odds most of the starting positions for the opener against Russia are already pinned down.

Joe Hart, Chris Smalling, Gary Cahill, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Raheem Sterling, Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane are seen as good things to be trusted by Hodgson to start in Marseille on June 11.

If the layers are correct then only three spots are up for grabs over the Easter international bonanza with the two full-back positions a close-run thing and Hodgson still needs to work out the best balance for his midfield.

Ross Barkley and Eric Dier are rated 5-4 shots to be in the team for the Stade Velodrome showdown and it could easily come down to whether Hodgson wants to go full tilt at the Russians or take a more measured approach.

The safer and wiser choice is Dier, who has been superb for Tottenham sitting just in front of the Premier League’s best defence and has played a huge part in their rise up to second spot.

There is other competition in the midfield positions, although Jack Wilshere (7-2) is running out of time to prove his fitness and others such as Michael Carrick are out of favour.

Carrick was excellent for Manchester United in their derby win over City on Sunday but has drifted to 16-1 with Sky Bet to start after Hodgson overlooked him for the latest squad with Danny Drinkwater chosen.

Sterling looks a little short to start given his relatively poor performances for Manchester City and Adam Lallana, a 4-1 chance to be picked against Russia, should not be totally overlooked.

The full-back slots are not the sexiest positions on the pitch but they look set to provide the more fascinating battles with Danny Rose and Ryan Bertrand both getting the chance to audition for the left-back role over the next set of friendly encounters.

Rose is 5-6 and Bertrand evens, while on the right Nathaniel Clyne has drifted to 4-7 with Kyle Walker at 5-4.

John Stones is 4-5 – a short price on the face of it – but he could be used at right-back and would probably be next in line should anything happen to centre-backs Smalling or Cahill.

Hills are offering prices on the forwards not to start against Russia and Rooney is 5-2.

Jamie Vardy (7-4 to start) and Daniel Sturridge (5-2) will be pushing hard for the gig alongside so-called certainty Kane should the skipper be sidelined.

Writing on his Coral blog, former striker Alan Shearer said “Kane should be the first name on the team sheet for England.”

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