England v Slovenia: Jack Wilshere key to Roy Hodgson's diamond formation but bigger tests await for midfielder Now that Hodgson seems committed to Wilshere at the base of the diamond, opposing managers can plan accordingly. Gordon Strachan may be tempted to drop Steven Naismith on top of Wilshere, stifling him at Celtic Park on Tuesday. If Chris Martin starts, he could drop back on Wilshere. Whoever Strachan uses in his preferred 4-2-3-1 system, special attention will be paid to Wilshere, who needs to experience sustained pressure that he will not encounter in England's unchallenging qualifying campaign that is no preparation for the rigours of Euro 2016. For the next 18 months the friendlies are the competitive games for England. Wilshere needs to prove himself in Paradise. "I don't think we can have any doubts about Jack's ability to play in that position,"" Hodgson said. He can only do as well as he's doing against the opposition he faces. If one day I play him there against different opposition and he and the team get absolutely slaughtered we'd have to think about it. We were a bit unlucky this time because we lost Michael Carrick, who is a player we've always liked and could also help us in that position. Ward-Prowse is another player we think has got an interesting future there, but he got injured."" Hodgson placed a collective emphasis on ball-winning. "We're showing signs of the pace and athleticism we feel we have in the squad not only in attacking phases of play but also defensive phases," the England manager said. We're very quick to win the ball back. What we call the "five-yard furies" we're seeing them all over the field, particularly in the opponents" half." For all their work-rate, England were poor in a first half fittingly containing only downs. Hodgson's diamond was lost amid turf cut up by the cleats of recent National Football League visitors. Jaguars 1 Lions 0. On a pitch damaged down the centre by the scrimmaging classes, it was even less comprehensible of Hodgson to set up England so narrow. Raheem Sterling tucked in behind Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck with width emanating from the two full-backs. "Nathaniel Clyne was making his debut and I don't think you can do much better on a debut than that,"" Hodgson said. Kieran Gibbs also did well. While both full-backs furthered their cases with promising displays, especially Clyne in an area where England are depleted, Slovenia were not stretched enough. Only when England switched more to 4-3-3 at the interval did some fluidity and menace arrive. We benefited from the change by moving Raheem wide on the right and asking Danny to play a bit wider on the left. I made it clear to them that I didn't want wingers. I didn't want Raheem stuck on one touchline and Danny on the other. I wanted them to continue to come in."" England still had to recover from Jordan Henderson's own goal, inadvertently flicking in a free-kick after 57 minutes, before waking up properly and seizing the game. Bostjan Cesar tripped Rooney, who made no mistake from the spot for his 44th goal, taking him alongside Jimmy Greaves and bringing Gary Lineker's 48 and Sir Bobby Charlton's 49-goal record into even sharper focus. Welbeck took over, driving in a shot that lacked elegance but contained sufficient accuracy. After good work by Gibbs, Welbeck exchanged passes with Sterling before making it 3-1. "Wayne and Danny did extremely well and Raheem came to life in the second half and showed us the great quality he's got,"" Hodgson. In the absence of Daniel Sturridge, Welbeck is now established as Plan A alongside Rooney. "Certainly, at the moment, yes,"" Hodgson said. I can't give him carte blanche forever. Other players might emerge. I saw Danny Ings play very well for the Under-21s the other day. I'm hoping the competition is going to get stronger and stronger. But if you're asking me am I pleased at the resurgence of form Danny's had in the last two or three months, of course I am. I think there's enough players to choose from. We are moving in a decent direction. I do think we can get a lot better.