Rio Ferdinand has told Gareth Southgate to play his first-choice defence against Nigeria tomorrow or risk a World Cup disaster.
Ferdinand believes England’s young players badly need to get used to playing with each other if they are to avoid making costly errors in Russia.
The former Three Lions captain also says the uncertainty over who starts in goal out of Jordan Pickford and Jack Butland needs clearing up – and that Southgate must use tomorrow’s Wembley warm-up and next Thursday’s Costa Rica friendly to settled that debate.
There are just 17 days until England open their campaign against Tunisia and Ferdinand said: “These two warm-up games have never been more important to an England team than at this time.
“It is the time you need to get familiar with the other people you are playing with.
“I don’t need just to be familiar with my centre back partners, I need to understand my goalkeeper and the way he wants to move.
“Then there’s the centre midfield in front of us. And the back three ourselves – I need to have that triangle imprinted in my mind so I know intuitively where they are going to be.
“I believe the players who are going to start the World Cup should play the warm-up games. We don’t know who the keeper is.
“On the ball, we have got very, very capable defenders. John Stones is fantastic on the ball; Harry Maguire is fantastic on the ball; Kyle Walker is very good for England on the ball.
“But the most important thing – and the thing that concerns me – is that they are not familiar with each other.
“My defensive partnerships were always based on understanding instinctively where my partners were going to be – and that comes from game-time spent together.
“When I first made my debut for Leeds (against Leicester) it was in a back three with two defenders of the class of Jonathan Woodgate and Lucas Radebe.
“We got beaten 3-1 and were all over the place for the first half-hour. That shows how important that understanding is.
“The most important thing, and the thing that concerns me, is that Gareth Southgate’s defenders are not familiar with each other.”