Gareth Southgate has moved to ease any anxiety within his England squad by making the unusual decision to reveal his selection to the players well in advance of Monday’s opening group game against Tunisia.

England travel to Volgograd with a fully fit squad available to the manager, with Marcus Rashford having been integrated back into training in Repino, and with their lineup for the Group G opener decided. That is understood to mean World Cup debuts for nine players with starts for Ashley Young at left wing-back and Harry Maguire in central defence, while Jordan Henderson will be the side’s midfield anchor instead of Eric Dier.

The choice to disclose the selection to his players is surprising for Southgate, who has tended to name his side on the day of the game, but is designed to allow those involved to focus fully on their task at the Volgograd Arena. Rob Green revealed last week that he had been given only two hours’ notice he was to play in England’s opening game at the 2010 World Cup and duly made a bad mistake in the 1-1 draw with the United States. It would be almost two years before the goalkeeper played for England again.

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“The players know the team for the first game already,” said Southgate. “We have been working on a system of play we think suits the players we have available and the style of play we want to implement as well.

“From our fans’ point of view, they’re enjoying seeing young players come into the squad. Everyone at home wants England to win but they want to see them play well and enjoy their football and that’s what I want as a coach. So if we can marry those things and the environment is right, then we think results become part of that process.

“Whenever you represent England, or any other country, there’s expectation, there’s hope, you carry the dreams of a nation, and it’s impossible to say to any player you can go out and play without any feeling of pressure or any feeling or fear.

“But what you have to do is make sure that doesn’t control you and that you go for it in your performances. You don’t feel: ‘Oh, I was inhibited in the way I played’ or worry about making mistakes because mistakes will happen for certain. So no, I think pressure is what you perceive and very often that comes from listening to too much external noise. Actually we have to focus on the things we can control and they’re things within our camp and within our team.”

Southgate heaped praise on Harry Kane but has urged the Tottenham striker’s creative teammates to ease the goalscoring burden on his captain.

“He’s only played something like seven games in our 18 matches and he’s scored eight goals, so he’s pretty important,” added Southgate.

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“A goalscorer is worth his weight in gold. He is a great leader in terms of his approach to everything about his profession. He is meticulous and considered, he wants to be the best he can be and believes he can be one of the best in the world. His stats over the last few years tell us he’s heading that way so, of course, he is a key player for us. Equally we have others in our camp which help to take the pressure away from him having the burden of expectation, because the young players coming through, people we are excited about. Dele Alli, Raheem Sterling, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford … we have Jamie Vardy who scored regularly for his club at a high level in the Premier League, so I think it’s important it isn’t just one story. Although it’s important Harry [Kane] is a big player for us, we have to be about the collective.”

While Southgate was talking, Danny Rose explained why the squad is not about to question the manager. The left-back believes the moment he dropped Wayne Rooney for a World Cup qualifier in Slovenia in 2016, he put down an important marker.

“I definitely didn’t expect the manager to drop him against Slovenia and as soon as we all saw that we knew the gaffer was not somebody to be messed around with,” said Rose.

Monday’s Group G fixture will be officiated by the experienced Colombian referee, Wilmar Roldán, who has been on the Fifa list for a decade and is at his second World Cup finals.