England sampled the delights of Lithuania’s plastic pitch at their tiny LFF Stadium in Vilnius on Saturday as they completed a training session under the floodlights.
The Three Lions have already sealed their place in next summer’s World Cup finals while Lithuania are rooted in fifth position, so there will nothing but pride to play for in front of 5,000 fans on Sunday evening.
And that appeared to be in the minds of England players as they enjoyed a jovial atmosphere in a light training session, including what appeared to be a quick round of a playground classic.
Gareth Southgate checks out the artificial grass pitch during training at The LFF Stadium
The England players have a team talk in the centre of the pitch at the tiny stadium in Vilnius
Harry Kane, Harry Maguire and Dele Alli complete a warm up as they jog around the pitch
Tottenham midfielder Alli shows off his acrobatic skills in the centre circle during training
A closer look at the pristine, plastic pitch that England will play on on Sunday evening
Gareth Southgate has already admitted that he intends to use the final World Cup qualifier as a chance to experiment and the likes of Daneil Sturridge, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard will be hoping to get a chance to impress.
One player who will get that opportunity is goalkeeper Jack Butland, who is set to start ahead of Joe Hart and gain the sixth cap for his country.
Southgate said of the Stoke City star: ‘He has been patient for his opportunity, his form has been good. It’s a good opportunity for Jack.’
England goalkeeper Jack Butland saves a shot as he goes through some routine training drills
Fraser Forster, Jordan Pickford and Joe Hart look on as Butland is given time in goal
Daniel Sturridge and Jesse Lingard stretch their legs with England team-mates on the pitch
Raheem Sterling cracks a smile as he stretches with Lingard and Sturridge
Although England can afford to draw or lose the game without consequence, Southgate says the squad are keen to bounce back from what was considered a poor performance against Slovenia.
Harry Kane’s 94th-minute winner did little to mask what had been a drab tie and Southgate admits that while he is keen to rotate his team, he is also thinking about coming home with three points.
‘For sure we’ll make changes but want to get the balance right,’ Southgate added. ‘It is a results business but the way I want to play is to entertain as well. This is a game where we want to give a strong performance and win.
‘We were very clear in our mind how we wanted to evolve and we’ve got an extra game to do that now, which is a great opportunity to look at a couple of things.
‘Everyone was disappointed with the performance [against Slovenia], none more so than me. We want to learn from the game and don’t want to waste that opportunity.’
Harry Winks, Ryan Bertrand, Jake Livermore and Sturridge try to keep Jordan Henderson at bay
The England stars appeared to be enjoying a game from the playground during the session
Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford wraps up warm as he samples the Baltic breeze