Chelsea left back Ashley Cole will miss England's final World Cup qualifier against Poland on Tuesday because of a rib injury. The England veteran had also missed Friday's win over Montenegro and has failed to recover in time. Everton's Leighton Baines is fill in for Cole, as he did against Montenegro. Roy Hodgson also has a problem at right back as Kyle Walker is suspended and the coach will have to choose between Manchester United team-mates Chris Smalling and Phil Jones.
Tottenham winger Andros Townsend is likely to be confirmed on the right by manager Roy Hodgson following his goal-scoring debut against Montengro. Liverpool's Raheem Sterling was also called up from the Under-21 squad to replace Tom Cleverley, who will be out due to a calf problem and already missed the 4-1 victory over Montenegro on Friday. England must beat Poland at Wembley to secure automatic qualification for the final tournament in Brazil.
Baines is confident he will produce another solid display on Tuesday in Cole's absence. "The manager feels that we can both do the job," he said. "That's all that matters really, that the job gets done. Qualifying for a World Cup is as big a carrot as you could probably dangle in front of any player. World Cups don't come around too often in a player's career. Everyone is hungry for that opportunity to get there and we are one game away from there. We know what job needs to be done and hopefully we will do it."
Hodgson wants England to avoid having to qualify via the play-offs. "We must make sure we complete it against Poland and I am sure we will," he said. "Even though they are out of the running and have nothing to play for, I can't imagine they will take their foot off the pedal." Poland managed to hold England to a 1-1 draw when they last met a year ago in Warsaw.
If England fail to beat Poland then Ukraine will most likely take the top spot as their last group match is an easy one at San Marino. Here are the odds for England vs Poland at Bet365:
England win - 2/9
Draw - 5/1
Poland win - 11/1
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