England starts for Carroll and Green

Soccer:England manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed both Andy Carroll and Rob Green will start tomorrow's friendly against Norway in Oslo.

The veteran coach will be taking charge of his first fixture in charge of his country, and has opted to give Carroll in particular the chance to prove his worth ahead of the forthcoming European Championships.

With Chelsea’s Champions League winners yet to join the squad and Wayne Rooney - suspended for the first two Euro 2012 games - not involved, Hodgson does not have numerous options at his disposal.

As a result, he admits a lot of positions have been taken for tomorrow, with Liverpool striker Carroll and West Ham goalkeeper Green occupying two of them.

“Andy ended the season well and that was after a difficult start at Liverpool,” said Hodgson.

“A lot of positions are taken care of as we’re still waiting for the Chelsea players and of course Wayne Rooney. I know what I am going to do, but I haven’t told the players yet.

“The back four takes care of itself, Rob Green will be in goal and Steven (Gerrard) will start as captain.”

Green’s return between the sticks will be his first appearance since his ill-feted run-out against the United States.

He will be back-up to Joe Hart at the Euros, more so now with Norwich’s John Ruddy ruled out with a broken finger.

Ruddy was one of Hodgson’s wildcard selections for Poland and Ukraine, and had planned to delay his honeymoon to travel with the squad. He will not do so, though, having suffered the injury in training.

“It was unlucky for us,” Hodgson added. “He was so excited to be with the national team and to go to the Euros, but to break a finger, in goalkeeping work too, was really unfortunate.

“We can’t take a risk. The finger will heal before the start of the season but the medical advice was for him to stop at home.

“As a result, we’ve given a chance to a young goalkeeper, Jack Butland, who’s cutting short his holiday in Mexico.”

Hodgson also reported mixed news on three other injured players in the shape of Scott Parker (Achilles), Glen Johnson (toe) and Danny Welbeck (ankle).

“Scott Parker is good, we were concerned about his Achilles but he’s taken part in all the training and will be taking part tomorrow,” he said.

“Glen Johnson has an infected toe that will keep him out of the game tomorrow, but we hope he’ll be okay by next week.

“Danny Welbeck’s injury has cleared up less quickly than we’d hoped, but medical expertise tells me he’ll be okay.”