England expects an avalanche of goals

England expects to be entertained when the Three Lions take on San Marino in their World Cup qualifier on Friday.

With 90,000 fans having sold out Wembley, Roy Hodgson is hoping to reward that support with a thumping win over the joint-worst side in the world, according to FIFA’s world rankings.

Equal in 207th with Bhutan and Turks and Caicos Islands as football’s least successful international team, San Marino concede more than their fair share of goals, including a 13-0 hammering by Germany in 2006.

With an eye on goal difference at the end of the qualifying campaign, Hodgson told reporters: “There are 90,000 coming to the game so we want to win the game and we’d like to do that by scoring a few goals.

“I’m not prepared to quantify what a good result is. You’ll only know that next October, at the end of the competition – if it’s a case of goal difference.

“A good result is a win and a good performance. I want to see evidence that they’re doing what I want them to do, whether that’s 1-0 or 10-0.

“How many are we going to score – five, like we did in Moldova? (Moldova) aren’t that bad. So we have a head start (on goal difference).”

With group rivals Ukraine travelling to Moldova on Friday, aiming to better the Three Lions’ 5-0 winning margin, the pressure for goals at Wembley increases.

Wayne Rooney will captain England against the tiny nation, with regular skipper Steven Gerrard suspended and Frank Lampard out of the match with an injury.