Carroll to lead the line against Norway

The veteran coach will be taking charge of his first fixture in charge of the Three Lions, and has opted to give Carroll in particular the chance to prove his worth ahead of the forthcoming European Championships.

With Chelsea's Champions League winners yet to join the squad and Wayne Rooney - suspended for the first two Euro 2012 games - not involved, Hodgson does not have numerous options at his disposal.

As a result, he admits a lot of positions have been taken for Saturday, with Liverpool striker Carroll and West Ham goalkeeper Green occupying two of them.

"Andy ended the season well and that was after a difficult start at Liverpool," Hodgson told a pre-match press conference.

"He ended the season well and he has continued in the same vein with us.

"A lot of positions are taken care of as we're still waiting for the Chelsea players and of course Wayne Rooney.

"I know what I am going to do, but I haven't told the players yet.

"The back four takes care of itself, Rob Green will be in goal and Steven (Gerrard) will start as captain."

Green's return between the sticks will be his first appearance since his ill-feted run-out against the United States.

He will be back-up to Joe Hart at the Euros, more so now with Norwich's John Ruddy ruled out with a broken finger.

Ruddy was one of Hodgson's wildcard selections for Poland and Ukraine, and had planned to delay his honeymoon to travel with the squad.

He will not do so, though, having suffered the injury in training.

"It was unlucky for us," Hodgson added.

"He was so excited to be with the national team and to go to the Euros, but to break a finger, in goalkeeping work too, was really unfortunate.

"We can't take a risk. The finger will heal before the start of the season but the medical advice was for him to stop at home.

"As a result, we've given a chance to a young goalkeeper, Jack Butland, who's cutting short his holiday in Mexico."

Hodgson also reported mixed news on three other injured players in the shape of Scott Parker (Achilles), Glen Johnson (toe) and Danny Welbeck (ankle).

"Scott Parker is good, we were concerned about his Achilles but he's taken part in all the training and will be taking part tomorrow [Saturday]," he said.

"Glen Johnson has an infected toe that will keep him out of the game tomorrow [Saturday], but we hope he'll be okay by next week.

"Danny Welbeck's injury has cleared up less quickly than we'd hoped, but medical expertise tells me he'll be okay."

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Hodgson admitted he is looking forward to his first game in charge of the national side and will be looking to test out a few combinations against Norway.

He said: "I want to say that it would be very nice to win tomorrow [Saturday] and we'll do our best to do that, but to win the first game of the European Championships would please me much more.

"I've certainly been impressed with the enthusiasm and the energy but we're missing a third of the squad, and of that there are some very important players that I've not had chance to see in action.

"It's always good if your first impression of people is a good one and my impression of this group is a very good one.

"It's important to get the best players on the field and play in a style that lets them play their best.

"We're becoming more multi-cultural in all countries so there won't be any revolutionary style. I will be expecting them to play as they play for their clubs week-in, week-out.

"It will be a very proud moment. I've had some proud moments. I'm excited, nervous I don't know.

"I'm more excited to see what some of these players can do as I'm in a learning stage.

"Tomorrow [Saturday] is going to be a very important step on the way, as is next week at Wembley.

"My plan is to get as many players in action."