He intends to give debuts to all four uncapped players tonight, with Wayne Bridge and possibly Michael Ricketts the duo most likely to start.

But while Darius Vassell and Ledley King will also earn first caps, Eriksson confirmed that all four are outsiders for World Cup places and are largely contesting back-up roles in case of injuries to front-line players.

Indeed, with Joe Cole only set to come off the bench, the main spotlight will be on Kevin Phillips in what could be a final audition for a World Cup place before Robbie Fowler, Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham return.

While Eriksson will give Kieron Dyer a chance to make his mark on the left flank if he is fit for friendlies against Italy next month and Paraguay in April, other openings are almost gone.

The England coach declared: "If we talk about March and April, it will be very difficult to take in new players that I've never had in the squad before.

"The closer you get to the World Cup, the less you can use games for them to gain experience."

While Eriksson insisted that, technically, the door would not close until the final squad is named on May 21, the reality is rather different.

"Of course, I have my ideas and if we don't have any injured players then I know more or less who's going to be picked," said Eriksson, who recently revealed he had effectively settled on 15 or 16 names already.

"Then again, if I was a footballer, I would get depressed if I thought I didn't have a chance. Things can change very quickly in this game, also in the head of the coach."

As for the non-availability of Jonathan Woodgate and John Terry, who have been ruled out during legal cases, he added: "It's always a concern.

"But if they are not available, I will pick other players and hopefully we will end up with no others suspended."

The domestic bans that have ruled out Lee Bowyer, Danny Mills, Alan Smith and Jamie Carragher are also a "little bit of a concern", but Eriksson argued that the rules on selection are different for competitive games.