Italy test is England players’ last-chance saloon before World Cup – but Gareth Southgate won’t rule out Jack Wilshere

Welcome to the last-chance saloon. The next time England play after Tuesday night is all the way in June, against Nigeria at Wembley, just 10 days before they fly to Russia and 16 days before they face Tunisia in Volgograd. By that point the season will be over, the squad will be picked and Gareth Southgate will just be finessing his XI to take the field in Russia.

By then the manager will have narrowed his options to the point where there are only a handful of questions left to solve. Which explains why there is so much riding on Tuesday’s game with Italy at Wembley, the last England match of this regular season, a final juncture for Southgate to close his mind on some issues and maybe re-open it on a few others.

When Southgate discussed his decisions at his press conference at Tottenham today, he sounded like a man ready to submit his players to the final round of tests, having winnowed them down this far. Especially for the players who have not yet made a sufficiently convincing case. “Some of these guys, it’s important we see them in the games,” Southgate said. “Some we’ve brought in to still feel part of the group, or to look at them for the first time and how they train with us. We’re trying to build on what we’ve done in the last few matches, and a healthy performance the other night.”

This is why it is such a complication for Jack Wilshere to be absent with an injury again. Wilshere was set for his first England appearance since Euro 2016 on Friday night but he had to pull out with a knee problem. Now that he has returned to Arsenal, he will reach the end of the season without having played for England for almost two years. This will force Southgate to take a huge gamble by picking him for Russia, even if he continues to stay fit for Arsenal. It means that Wilshere’s chances of going to Russia have dropped, even if Southgate was reluctant to say that Wilshere’s time was running out.

“I don’t think time has run out for anybody,” Southgate insisted. “It’s more difficult for someone like Jack because he’s not had the chance to play a game for us. It is a shame because he is a player we obviously wanted to have a look at more closely and for him to stake a chance for a place. But I wouldn’t rule anybody out at this stage because there’s still weeks of the season to go.”

Of course, Wilshere’s absence for England only sharpens the questions about who will play in Southgate’s midfield, and whether this team has enough technique and nous in the middle of the pitch to keep hold of the ball. But it has been this way for generations and, having taken an unfit Wilshere to the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016, England may be reluctant to make the same mistake for a third time.

What Southgate needs is a best guess at how these players will perform under pressure, which is when England have played their worst in the past. And who better to put them under pressure than Italy, the best team not at the World Cup and probably better than half the teams going. The 2006 champions and Euro 2012 finalists are coming to Wembley with a point to prove. Just like many of their opponents.

When asked whether Italy were in a mess, Southgate was quick to talk them up. “I’m not so sure they’re in so much of a state as people would say,” Southgate said. “They’ve got good players and are a proud footballing nation. They won’t roll over. The coach organises his teams well, with good detail. They’ll press us with more intensity than we were pressed the other night, which is a good challenge for us.” The first test along World Cup lines is also the last chance to try things out. The pressure on Southgate and the players will only get heavier.