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CHANTILLY. – Jamie Vardy is facing the axe for England’s Euro 2016 soccer opener against Russia. Roy Hodgson has not yet told his players the team he intends to pick for the Group B clash in Marseille tonight. But in their top-secret training sessions here in Chantilly this week, Sportsmail understands England have been practising in a formation that suggests Footballer of the Year Vardy and James Milner are the casualties of their stuttering display against Portugal nine days ago.

England’s players have certainly been led to believe both are axed, with Raheem Sterling the favourite to replace Vardy, and Jack Wilshere or Adam Lallana coming in for Milner. The latter decision depends entirely on whether Hodgson and his coaching staff think Wilshere is sharp enough to start a game.

Hodgson would certainly like a player of Wilshere’s passing ability on the pitch — if he can trust his fitness levels. If Vardy does discover he is indeed on the bench today, it will cap an already difficult week for the Leicester striker, who is still agonising over a massive money offer from Arsenal.

It is unclear if that distraction is influencing Hodgson’s decision but the manager has already given Vardy time off to get married in the build-up to the tournament. The timing of Arsenal’s approach for him certainly did not help. That said, Vardy was among England’s poorer players against Portugal at Wembley.

He was deployed out wide on the left and had only nine touches — one of which was at the kick-off — before being taken off in the second half.

Over the last two days the same back four has been training as a unit in front of Joe Hart, which suggests it will be Kyle Walker, Chris Smalling, Gary Cahill and Danny Rose in defence.

Ryan Bertrand, who might have threatened Rose for the left back position, only returned to training on Thursday after more than a week on the sidelines following a knock.

Eric Dier and Dele Alli have been operating in midfield, although it remains to be seen if Alli is deployed in a more advanced role behind the forwards.

That leaves skipper Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane completing the probable line-up.

England had one more session behind their nine-foot privacy screens here in Chantilly yesterday morning before flying to Marseille in the afternoon.

But the players certainly think Hodgson has recognised the difficulties England endured when they ambitiously attempted to play with Rooney, Kane and Vardy in the same attack in the third of their warm-up games last week.It is understood Wilshere fears he has not played enough during the three warm-up games — having only managed 141 minutes of football for Arsenal this season — to force his way in ahead of Lallana. – Mailonline.