Roy Hodgson admits England have “given penalties a lot of thought” ahead of tonight’s quarter-final against Italy.
The manager named an unchanged line-up from the one that beat Ukraine 1-0 in the final group game.
“It is important to have options. Tonight will be decided one way or another and we have lots of options on the bench who can change games,” he told the BBC.
“We have done well so far with this XI and they all deserve to start the game, but everyone has been informed that the bench is important.
Roy Hodgson admits England have “given penalties a lot of thought” ahead of tonight’s quarter-final against Italy.
The manager named an unchanged line-up from the one that beat Ukraine 1-0 in the final group game.
“It is important to have options. Tonight will be decided one way or another and we have lots of options on the bench who can change games,” he told the BBC.
“We have done well so far with this XI and they all deserve to start the game, but everyone has been informed that the bench is important.
“It is foolish to try and second guess substitutes in your head, but it will be about how the players are coping with the heat and how fresh their legs are.
“We have given the penalties a lot of thought and have seen the statistics for all the players, but I hope we can win the game in normal time. There will be less stress if we do it that way.”
Italy have not lost a knockout match during 90 minutes in a major tournament since the Euro 1980 semi-final against Russia.