Southgate wants to see his England side prove against Spain

As much as Gareth Southgate wants to see his England side prove against Spain on Saturday that they can indeed make the next step in ranking among the very best, he also regards the game at Wembley as something of a World Cup homecoming for the players who impressed in Russia.

A victory against a side who remain a major international force despite the chaos of their own World Cup campaign is the primary objective, of course.

But it is also a chance for England’s supporters to pay tribute to the team who dared them to dream in the summer, and for that reason Southgate will present Harry Kane with the Golden Boot and then send out a side that is expected to be as close as possible to the XI he picked against Croatia in that semi-final defeat in Moscow.

With Raheem Sterling sidelined by injury and Ashley Young omitted from the squad, there will be at least two changes. Danny Rose is most likely to get the nod as a replacement for Young, while Fabian Delph could appear in a reshuffled midfield.

This week, Southgate has reassured young players Joe Gomez, Luke Shaw and Trent Alexander-Arnold that an opportunity to impress will come, but it may not be in the first game after the World Cup.

Not that the players are entirely sure what Southgate has in mind for Saturday, with line-ups changing constantly in the training sessions. The system remains pretty much unchanged, it seems, but there has been an examination of all the key personnel.

As he said when he revisited that last-four defeat by Croatia with his players this week, there were a number of issues with his defence.

Once under pressure, his young England side stopped passing out from the back in the manner that had become their style, instead knocking the ball long and surrendering possession cheaply.

Perhaps more of a headache for Southgate, however, is what happens up front in the absence of Sterling and Adam Lallana.

When Sterling withdrew from the squad on Monday with a back problem, Lallana was regarded as the obvious alternative as a creative force behind Harry Kane.

But when Liverpool’s attacking midfielder pulled up in training on Tuesday with a groin problem, options suddenly became more limited.

Marcus Rashford is one, and during the World Cup he was the player to whom Southgate turned every time he took Sterling off.

That said, Southgate does not seem entirely convinced by a young Manchester United striker who managed to get himself sent off last weekend.

The England manager ignored the clamour for Rashford’s selection that followed his marvellous goal against Costa Rica in that pre-tournament warm-up game at Leeds, even when goals from open play were increasingly elusive.

Dele Alli seems like the more sensible route to take, maybe in tandem with Jesse Lingard, ahead of Jordan Henderson and Delph.

Southgate regarded Alli more as a midfielder in Russia, even when chances for Kane were largely restricted to set-piece plays. But there is no denying his effectiveness when operating as a foil to Kane at Tottenham.

As Southgate demonstrated during his World Cup debrief this week, statistics have their place and the stats on Kane and Alli, when representing Tottenham, make for interesting reading.

In terms of chances created at Spurs, between them Kane and Alli created 32 scoring opportunities for each other. Twenty-four of those were made by Alli with Kane responsible for the other eight.

It is those kind of figures that are likely to persuade Southgate to look in Alli’s direction for the role occupied by Sterling in Russia, with Rashford once again seen as an impact substitute.

The players will not know for sure until today, but they are in no doubt already of what the England manager expects.

Spain will test their ability to improve in the areas where they displayed the most weakness in Russia. And if they fail tomorrow, more changes are sure to follow.