Report: Hodgson dumps Vardy from England opener

Various reports are stating that Jamie Vardy and James Milner are to be dropped from England's starting XI for Saturday's tilt with Russia.

The two tireless operators, who play their club football at Leicester City and Liverpool, respectively, appeared to have won a first-team spot in the warmup matches for the tournament, but Roy Hodgson will instead call in Raheem Sterling and Adam Lallana for England's Euro 2016 opener, according to The Daily Telegraph's Matt Law.

The lineup tweaks could mark a departure from the controversial midfield diamond deployed in the drab 1-0 friendly win over Portugal on June 2, and The Daily Mail suggests that even Arsenal's oft-injured Jack Wilshere could be handed a start.

The rethink from Hodgson and his coaching staff could be due to that much-criticised Portugal performance, but also because of Russia's issues in the middle of the park. First-choice midfielders Igor Denisov and Alan Dzagoev have been ruled out of the tournament due to injury, so the England players will be charged with dominating that area of the pitch.

Another move to ensure this happens in Marseille would be to use skipper Wayne Rooney in a more withdrawn role, states The Times' Matt Hughes, while Tottenham Hotspur duo Eric Dier and Dele Alli occupy the centre of midfield.

After the Russia clash, England rounds off its Group B commitments with matches against Wales next Thursday, and then Slovakia on June 20.