Manchester, (England): England face Hungary in a World Cup warm-up on Tuesday with time running out for coach Sven-Goran Eriksson as he tries to replace injured striker Wayne Rooney.
Rooney's broken foot will rule him out of the Group B games which England start on June 10 against Paraguay, though he may make the latter stages of the finals if England progress.
And, which means Tuesday's game and Saturday's final friendly against Jamaica at Old Trafford are Eriksson's last chances to experiment before flying out to Germany next week.
The Swede has to be sure that towering striker Peter Crouch is the right man to replace Rooney alongside Michael Owen.
Crouch, who partnered Owen in last Thursday's 2-1 'B' international defeat by Belarus, has also linked up with the Newcastle United striker in friendlies in 2005 against Colombia and Argentina.
But the lanky Liverpool forward has still not convinced all the skeptics that he is a top-level international striker and his inclusion means a change for Owen.
"Crouch likes playing as the target man so sometimes I have to drop deep and that is probably not my strength," Owen said.
"When I play with Wayne, he does that job and that's where you get the best out of him."
For Owen, who started his first game since December in the Belarus defeat, Tuesday's match will be a chance to make further progress.
Given only an hour after a prolonged recovery from breaking a bone in his foot, he should stay on for longer before hopefully lasting 90 minutes against Jamaica.
Though Crouch will start, there should still be time to try out alternatives to him, like notable ball-player Joe Cole and imposing midfielder Steven Gerrard.
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Cole would move in from the left flank, leaving a space that Gerrard could fill were the Liverpool captain to be replaced by a holding midfielder such as Michael Carrick.
Gerrard, who showed his goal sense with a double strike in Liverpool's FA Cup final victory over West Ham United, has the advantage of having played alongside Owen for years during the striker's Anfield days.
England's first-choice midfield will be unrecognisable from the starting XI last week. Captain David Beckham will be back on the right, Frank Lampard and Gerrard will divide up the attacking and defensive duties, while Cole will drift in from the left.
Though Eriksson hated to remove his captain, England's best player last Thursday was right midfielder Aaron Lennon and he may make an appearance from the bench on Tuesday.
In defence, Arsenal pair Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell both played against Belarus on their comeback trail to peak fitness after injuries, but only Cole is set to start against Hungary.
Campbell looks to have lost his place in central defence to Chelsea captain John Terry alongside Rio Ferdinand. Gary Neville will be at right back with Paul Robinson between the posts.
Hungary, selected in the hope they will resemble England's final Group B opponents Sweden, can enjoy themselves as they prepare for the Euro 2008 qualifiers later this year.
For England, the pressure is on to find solutions.
Teams (probable): England - Paul Robinson, Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Ashley Cole, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard; Peter Crouch, Michael Owen
Hungary - Gabor Kiraly, Csaba Feher, Vilmos Sebok, Laszlo Eger, Peter Halmosi, Zoltan Gera, Balazs Molnar, Balazs Toth, Pal Dardai, Szabolcs Huszti, Imre Szabics
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