Roy Hodgson wants Harry Kane to grasp the opportunity to cement his place in the England team over the next four days.

Kane will lead the line for England in their Euro 2016 qualifier on Friday against Estonia because Wayne Rooney has an ankle injury.

Sir Bobby Charlton will present the captain with a commemorative golden boot for breaking his scoring record before kick-off and Rooney will then retreat to the directors' box to watch the final home match of England's qualification campaign.

The 29-year-old will then return to Carrington while the remaining England squad members fly to Lithuania, where they will hope to make it 10 qualifying wins from 10 on Monday.

Kane has scored just one Premier League goal this season, but Hodgson has faith in the Tottenham forward.

"This is a big opportunity for him," the England manager said of Kane, who found the net 31 times last term.

"He's waited a long time for his chance, not least through the (European) Under-21 Championship, but when he got his chance he scored with his first touch.

"It's now, this autumn, that we have him exclusively to ourselves. We believed in him. He's got a good career ahead of him, so it's a nice he'll get an opportunity.

"With Wayne out, he's in pole position."

Theo Walcott also looks set to be handed a chance to stake a claim for a place in Hodgson's team for Euro 2016.

The 26-year-old has scored four goals playing up front for Arsenal this season, but on Friday he will be deployed as one of the wide men in a front three containing Kane, and possibly Raheem Sterling.

Much has been expected of Walcott since his shock inclusion in Sven-Goran Eriksson's 2006 World Cup squad at the age of 16, but, other than a memorable hat-trick against Croatia in 2008, the Gunners forward has enjoyed few successful performances in an England shirt.

"He has all the things an England player needs, but he's had an awful lot of injuries, so it's been a stop start career," said Hodgson, who was without the former Southampton player at the 2014 World Cup due to a knee injury.

"Sometimes he's been there, sometimes not. Since coming back from the latest injury and having a chance to start a few games for Arsenal, he's shown the qualities he has.

"We want to tap into those qualities. We hope he does for us what I've seen him do for Arsenal."

Like Walcott, Michael Carrick has had a stop-start international career.

A four-year gap separated his second and third caps under Eriksson, and he never held down a regular berth in the teams of Steve McClaren or Fabio Capello.

Hodgson recalled Carrick after the World Cup, but he has since missed three squads through injury and had to pull out of two more for the same reason.

Despite missing England's final training session on Thursday with a tight groin, the 34-year-old will start against the Estonians.

"He's been unlucky on a couple of occasions when he's been pencilled in to play, but he's had to leave us with injury," Hodgson said of the Manchester United midfielder.

"Jack Wilshere has played in a central playmaker role, getting hold of the ball and starting the play we want to see, and Michael Carrick is very similar.

"We believe he can."

Becoming the only nation to qualify with a 100 per cent record would look good on paper, but Hodgson knows the real test for his men will come in the friendlies against Spain, France, Holland and Germany before Euro 2016.

Hodgson does not care if he is putting England's world ranking - and seeding for France - in jeopardy by pitting his young side against such tough opposition.

"I'm pleased the friendly games can be matches we can lose, which might see us sink even further down the rankings, rather than wins against teams which won't teach us everything we need to learn," he said.

"We are putting an awful lot of responsibility on the shoulders of young men like Chris Smalling, Harry Kane and John Stones.

"They are very exciting players, but they need these games to get a taste of what we need to be like if we are going to be successful in a tournament."