EXCLUSIVE: Hodgson gambles on Oxlade-Chamberlain as Rooney warns France - We're ready for you...

By MATT LAWTON FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Published: 07:24 EDT, 11 June 2012 | Updated: 09:40 EDT, 11 June 2012

Roy Hodgson will start Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in a huge selection gamble for their opening match with France today.

The surprise news comes as Wayne Rooney insists England are 'ready' for their Euro 2012 opener.

Arsenal's Oxlade-Chamberlain, just 18, starts ahead of Stewart Downing on the left wing in their first Group D match.

It is a huge gamble by Hodgson on a player who has only been playing in the Barclays Premier League for a year.

Fizz: England fans spray beer in the countdown to the clash against France

Ready: Security attend a briefing before the match at the Donbass Arena

Face to remember: A heavily-tattooed England fan drinks beer in the sunshine

Beer we go: England fans enjoy a refreshing drink ahead of the match with France

Ready: Members of the MIGS (Men In George Suits) supporters club stand in front of the statue of Lenin in Donetsk

Fun times: British police speak to England fans outside the Golden Lion in Donetsk

Let's go! England supporters lap up the sun ahead of the big match

 

He was signed by Arsenal from Southampton last summer in a £12million. This time last year he had just finished playing League One football.

Hodgson’s side launch their Euro 2012 campaign in sweltering temperatures near 90F in south-eastern Ukraine.

Rooney, who is suspended for the first two matches, took to Twitter to reveal the squad are geared up for battle.

He wrote: 'Can't wait for game. We're ready.'

After training in the Donbass Arena on Sunday, Hodgson rallied his squad with a reminder that they are elite players from one of the world’s best leagues.

And he assured them they were well prepared despite the recent turmoil. The England manager urged them not to be ‘suicidal’ if they cannot end the long wait for success.

Hodgson said: ‘To the players, my message is that we’ve done the best preparation we can.

'I think you’re ready and you’re good enough. Now have the confidence and the belief to get out there and show it and don’t get suicidal if, for some reason, things don’t work out for you.

‘To the fans, my message is that we’ll be doing our level best to send them home happy and not disappoint. We can’t promise them more than that. It's the only sensible promise anyone can give.’

Final countdown: England go through their paces at the Donbass Arena

Running the rule: All the players took part in the session taken by boss Hodgson, with one of them, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (left) handed a starting role against France

The stage is set: The Donbass Arena is ready to host England and France on Monday evening

France coach Laurent Blanc has teased Monday's opponents about contrasting philosophies and how his side would play all the football, and Hodgson bristled when asked by a foreign journalist if England still consider themselves a football power.

‘We started professional football in the 1860s or 1870s and, during the centuries since, I don’t think we could ever be accused of not being a serious — or even a top — football nation,’ said Hodgson.

Tip top stopper: Joe Hart will need to be on form

‘The fact that it’s 1966 since we won a major tournament — we are very, very much aware of and you didn’t actually need to remind me.

'How good we are as a nation will always be decided on the field of play. Once again we have qualified for a major tournament. We start off among the 16 teams with a chance to show how good a football nation we are.’

No excuses: Hodgson's men must put all the recent controversy behind them

Later, Hodgson added: ‘It was a facetious question but there was an element of truth — not spitefulness — in what he was saying. As a top nation we haven’t probably won as many tournaments as we should have or sometimes done as well as we should have. We all feel that weight.

'There’s nothing we can do to take that weight off our shoulders except make certain we embrace the tournament.

‘Make certain we’re not afraid of it, that we believe in ourselves. It’s a fact of life. I think before the very good French period, we could have levelled a similar accusation against them.’

Impact: Andy Carroll is likely to start on the bench with Danny Welbeck featuring from the off