Moldova will not be taken lightly by England – Hodgson

Hodgson’s men opened their World Cup qualifying campaign with a five-goal hammering of the Eastern Europeans 12 months ago.

On that evidence it was felt Moldova would be lucky to get any points other than the six they were likely to claim against minnows San Marino.

As it turns out, Moldova have also taken points off Ukraine and Poland, who in turn have avoided defeat in their meetings with England.

Those results have put Hodgson on red alert.

“Moldova also lost in the last minute to a very fortunate goal against Montenegro, otherwise they’d have an even better points tally,” said Hodgson.

“I don’t think I need to caution the players or guard against complacency and I don’t think I’ve seen any signs of that in the games we’ve played.

“If I did think any complacency was creeping in I’d be very quick to move in and quash it.”

After the withdrawals of Manchester United pair Wayne Rooney and Phil Jones, plus Liverpool’s Glen Johnson on Sunday, which prompted the call-up of Cardiff defender Steven Caulker, the remainder of Hodgson’s squad did either recovery work or a light training session following their arrival at St George’s Park.

However, concern remains over the fitness of in-form striker Daniel Sturridge.

The Liverpool man scored his fifth goal of the season to earn the Reds victory over champions Manchester United and maintain their 100 per cent record at Anfield on Sunday.

But afterwards Sturridge reported continuing pain from a groin injury that threatened his participation even in the warm-up.

Hodgson will want the injury assessed extensively before pushing Sturridge forward to feature against Moldova and the hugely important meeting with Ukraine in Kiev a week today.

Coach Mark McGhee expects Scotland to face a more complete package when Belgium come calling on Friday night than they did when they faced England.

The Scots play host to the Belgians in a World Cup qualifier on the back of last month’s 3-2 defeat in a friendly at Wembley.

While Scotland and England are both still trying to find their best style of play, McGhee believes the Belgians have already come up with the answer.

Gordon Strachan’s men can take encouragement from performances in their last two outings against Croatia and England but McGhee says Belgium will be a different prospect. “I think it is a step up at this stage,” he said.

“We are playing against a team on Friday night who are absolutely on song.

“They have found the formula that works for them, they’ve got great players in great form.

“As a team, they are ambitious about their qualification chances and possibly even reaching the latter stages of the World Cup in Brazil.

“They are strong in every position. Most importantly, they have found the way that suits them best.”