England boss Roy Hodgson pulls his punches over Harry Kane's big chance

There was a smile from the England coach before he promptly upped and left yesterday’s press conference. He had been saved by the bell so to speak.

Hodgson spent the afternoon boxing clever when bombarded with blows from the floor over whether Kane, the man of the moment, will be in the line up for tonight’s Euro 2016 qualifier with Lithuania, clamber off the substitutes’ bench or be made to wait until Tuesday’s friendly with Italy for his much-anticipated bow.

“I can see him making his full senior debut over the course of these next two games but that is not an awful lot to give you,” he offered as a morsel that did not really satisfy anyone.

The sense of anti-climax with England is usually reserved until after kick-off, though if Tottenham’s 29-goal forward is forced to be patient a 90,000 sell-out will shuffle indignantly in their seats.

They want Kane to be given his chance alongside Rooney and see whether the trail he has blazed in the Premier League continues in the international arena against opponents who are ranked 94th in the world.

Yet Hodgson is entitled to view things differently. Logic suggests his outlook will be to respect the game, win the game, work on improving his system in midfield and experiment later.

Danny Welbeck was described as “Plan A” back in November when taking his tally to five goals in four games and cementing England’s position at the summit of Group E. The likelihood is that he will retain his position even if Hodgson ducked it when quizzed if he owed any loyalty to the Arsenal forward.

“I might have been guilty of singing his praises after that autumn campaign. I thought he and Wayne did exceptionally well together as our two front players,” he said. “But I can’t remember what I said I am afraid.

“Welbeck is still very much in contention as is Wayne who we are delighted to see playing up front again for Manchester United because we have always used him as a front player.”

The downside of holding Kane in reserve, especially with Italy in mind, is that England are already preparing to field a weakened in Turin with Raheem Sterling, Leighton Baines and possibly James Milner, likely to return to their clubs after tonight.

There are times when Hodgson seems worried about what might happen if a young player does not meet the clamour that has engulfed them, though picking Kane with the best players would go some way to massaging those concerns.

Still, his priority is reaching France in 2016 and Wembley can still witness a spectacle if his team provides the attraction Kane’s inclusion would have guaranteed.

England deployed a midfield diamond against Slovenia in the last qualifier back in November only to disband it at the interval, following a goalless first half in which a lack of natural width made the going particularly tough, and switched to 4-3-3.

Lithuania lost their last competitive game 4-0 in Switzerland and, with their ambitions unlikely to exceed anything other than keeping the score down, it will be interesting to see what Hodgson does. Stick or revert back in the hope of polishing a diamond formation that might be more suited to the Azzurri.

Jordan Henderson, Michael Carrick and Fabian Delph are expected to start and will be charged with moving the ball quickly, while Sterling could begin on the flanks and then move in behind Welbeck and Rooney if necessary.

Rooney, a hat-trick away from equalling Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 49 goals for England, was in good spirits here and happy to broach the subject of his recent knock-down when donning the boxing gloves in an impromptu bout at home with Stoke defender Phil Bardsley and friends.

“Obviously I was caught on the wrong end of a punch, but I wasn’t knocked out like it was reported. Unfortunately the video stopped there...” he said.

“There has been stick around the place, at United and England training, but you’d expect that. They’re a group of lads. I’ve always loved boxing. Unfortunately, sometimes, it doesn’t go too well for you.

“It happened. If I’d felt it was that wrong, I’d have apologised to the right people.” He admitted the episode has claimed one casualty, however.

“I think the celebration has gone. It’s funny, actually,” added Rooney. “My wife went to pick up my lad from school and saw him doing that in the classroom. I’m sure you won’t be seeing that again.”

Hodgson will not care. His focus is on not who scores, or how they celebrate, but that England win again.