England vs Turkey match report: Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy give Roy Hodgson pleasant selection headache

England 2 Turkey 1

Kane opened the scoring with a composed finish (Getty)

It will require a big call by Roy Hodgson to leave Wayne Rooney on the sidelines for England’s Euro 2016 opener against Russia in less than three weeks, but a goal apiece from Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy against Turkey will not make the Rooney question any easier for the manager to solve.

It was scruffy at times, with defensive lapses once again raising concerns prior to the tournament, but when your two forwards score in a 2-1 victory, it certainly helps paper over the cracks.

But for Kane missing a second-half penalty – won by Vardy – the margin of England’s victory over their fellow qualifiers would have been greater, but with Rooney unavailable having led Manchester United to FA Cup glory 24 hours earlier, the two forwards gave Hodgson a selection headache he will be happy to have going into the final weeks of preparation for France.

With just 20 days to go until the Russia clash, this was Hodgson’s first opportunity to fine tune his team in preparation for the Group B fixture.

The FA Cup final commitments of Rooney, Chris Smalling and Marcus Rashford denied Hodgson the services of his Manchester United contingent, however, while only Jordan Henderson – an unused substitute during Liverpool’s Europa League Final defeat against Sevilla last Wednesday – was on duty among the Liverpool players in Hodgson’s 26-man pre-tournament squad.

The absences saw Everton’s John Stones partner Gary Cahill at centre-half in place of Smalling, while the returning Jack Wilshere took his place in midfield for his first England appearance since last June.

It was nonetheless a strong starting XI, laid out in a 4-1-3-2 formation with Eric Dier as the holding midfielder, and the in-form strike pairing of Kane and Vardy up front, with Vardy drifting in from the left to support the Tottenham forward.

And England began the game with the confidence of a team harbouring genuine hopes of progressing to at least the quarter-finals in France.

Kane and Vardy could yet keep Rooney out the team when England face Russia on June 11 and the pair linked up well for what should have been opening goal inside the first minute.

Calhanoglu tapped home from close range for Turkey's equaliser (Getty)

Vardy’s run through the heart of the Turkey defence was picked out by Kane, whose threaded pass found the Leicester forward just inside the penalty area.

Had he taken the ball cleanly, Vardy would have had a clear strike on goal, but a heavy touch cost him the chance, enabling goalkeeper Volkan Babacan to snuff out the danger.

But England were ahead two minutes later after Kane was incorrectly judged to be onside before latching onto Dele Alli’s pass from Raheem Sterling’s lay-off.

Kane was clearly offside, but with German referee Deniz Aytekin allowing play to continue, the forward scored from close range to make it 1-0.

If Hodgson is to break up the Kane-Vardy partnership to accommodate Rooney, the Tottenham man is unlikely to be the one to miss out.

The 22-year-old already performs with the experience of a seasoned professional and, in Rooney’s absence, led the line with authority and the self-belief to take charge of set-piece situations – twice going close with free-kicks during the first-half.

But while England looked sharp and menacing going forward, they were less convincing defensively against a Turkish team who were quite prepared to unsettle Hodgson’s players with the kind of forceful challenges that raise eyebrows in pre-tournament friendlies.

Gary Cahill, captain in place of Rooney, was caught out of position more than once while Spurs left-back Danny Rose was culpable for Turkey’s 14th minute equaliser having been caught out by a pass inside him which allowed Volkan Sen to cross for Hakan Calhanoglu to score at the far post.

With Rose unable to prevent the ball to Sen, goalkeeper Joe Hart was forced to rush off his line to block the cross and, having failed to do so, Calhanoglu had a simple task of tapping into the empty net to equalise.

Kane struck the post with a second-half penalty (Getty)

It was a goal that had been well flagged up by the visitors, with Ozan Tufan and Cenk Tosun both going close before Calhanoglu struck.

Playing a home game away from Wembley for the first time since February 2007 – an Old Trafford friendly against Spain – England struggled to excite the Etihad Stadium crowd after their bright start, but it was certainly a worthwhile exercise for Hodgson.

Wilshere made an impression in the midfield role reserved for the Arsenal player by Hodgson, while Dier once again looked solid as the holder. Dier’s aerial threat was also evident with the Spurs man heading a Wilshere corner against the post.

But without Rooney, and the injured Danny Welbeck, Kane and Vardy lacked the support around them, with Sterling failing to impress on his club ground.

When he was withdrawn midway through the second-half, Sterling had not done enough to banish the prospect of his squad place in France being snatched away by Rashford over the next ten days.

Vardy thumped home from yards out late on (Getty)

Vardy and Kane only rubber-stamped their claims to start against Russia, however.

And although his winning goal embellished his performance, Vardy’s threat also earned the penalty which was missed by Kane on 71 minutes.

After Vardy had been upended by Mehmet Topal, Kane surprisingly claimed the spot-kick duty from his attacking partner and he paid the price, sending his penalty wide off the right-hand post.

Vardy spared Kane’s blushes, however, by scoring third international goal on his seventh appearance by burying the loose ball from the rebound on 83 minutes.

And if any blame was being attached to Hart for Turkey’s goal, the Manchester City keeper made amends in stoppage time with a point blank save to keep out Olcay Sahan’s volley.

England maintain their momentum, however, and they will aim to continue their impressive form against Australia at Sunderland on Friday, when Rooney will expect the opportunity to remind people of his merits.