Norway 0-1 England: Low-Key Start to Hodgson Era

Roy Hodgson's reign as England manager got off to the perfect start in Oslo's Ullevaal Stadium as the visitors recorded a first win against Norway in 32 years.

Ashley Young's early goal proved decisive as a makeshift England side warmed up for Euro 2012 with a 1-0 victory.

Much tougher opponents await England in the weeks to come but as far as opening impressions go, Hodgson's side demonstrated a resilience and mental toughness that augers well ahead of the opening group game against France in Donetsk on 11 June.

Nevertheless, Messrs Ribery and Benzema are unlikely to be quite as accommodating as Norway's blunt attack force was on Saturday night. The home side had beaten France, Portugal and the Czech Republic in the last two years but it was not until the second half that they began to threaten Rob Green in England's goal.

England are likely to be a much changed outfit for next Saturday's final warm-up game against Belgium. Ashley Cole, John Terry and Gary Cahill will be available after they were rested last night, while Joe Hart can be expected to start ahead of Green.

Andy Carroll furthered his chances of starting against France in two weeks' time with an assured, if raw, performance ahead of the dangerous Ashley Young. With Wayne Rooney suspended for the opening two games, the Liverpool striker will be expected to shoulder some of the goal-scoring burden but Young - who scored his fourth goal in four games for England - will help ease some of that pressure.

The Manchester United winger took his goal well after nine minutes. Carroll turned provider as his ball found Young one-on-one against Fulham's Brede Hangeland before he drilled a composed finish into the bottom right-hand corner.

England lined up in a rigid 4-4-2 that offered little by way of flexibility and it will worry Hodgson that, without Rooney for the first two games, his side lacked ambition against mediocre opponents.

The only dark spot for the England manager was an injury to Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry, who limped off after coming on as a half-time substitute with a groin injury.

Barry is expected to undergo a scan on Sunday and Hodgson may be required to draft in a replacement before Tuesday's final deadline to name his squad for Poland and Ukraine.

"I'm not prepared to say it is serious," Hodgson told BBC Sport. "But it is certainly going to dominate our attention and we don't have a lot of time if the scan shows there is something more than minor.

"I spoke to Gareth and he told me 'I think I need a scan'. Something happened during the course of the game and now we need to see how it is."