England have suffered another injury scare before Monday’s awkward opening Euro 2016 qualifying game against Switzerland when Jordan Henderson limped out of the team’s training session at St Jakob Park on the eve of arguably their toughest fixture in the section.

Henderson departed nursing a problem with his right ankle after turning away from a tackle but, having been assessed on the pitch by the team’s medical staff, he did at least hobble off unaided. The Liverpool player had been earmarked to anchor the midfield against the side ranked ninth in the world and will be monitored on Monday morning prior to undergoing a fitness test before the Group E game, though his participation in the match appears in considerable doubt.

James Milner, who has mustered 63 minutes in three substitute appearances for club and country this season and was offered only 76 in a dead rubber against Costa Rica at the summer’s World Cup, played alongside Jack Wilshere in the practice game that continued after Henderson’s exit. The Manchester City player appears the likeliest candidate to occupy the central role if required, in favour of the inexperienced Fabian Delph, though the late change in thinking still constitutes a blow to Roy Hodgson’s preparations.

The manager is already without Henderson’s club-mate Daniel Sturridge, after the striker damaged a thigh in training at St George’s Park on Friday, with Danny Welbeck to return to the starting line-up. Although Hodgson is relishing being back in the country he took to the World Cup 20 years ago, he admitted he had sensed “a slight swing” against his tenure back home since the traumas in Brazil, though his priority is far from courting popularity from a sceptical public. Indeed, he was offered a resounding endorsement by his captain, Wayne Rooney, speaking on behalf of the 19-man squad in Switzerland.

There has been grumbling discontent since the summer, with the mood hardly improved by last week’s uninspiring friendly win over Norway. “Am I seeing the nasty side of the job? No,” said Hodgson, who experimented with 4-2-3-1 and a midfield diamond in training. “There is no nasty side. I love this job. It’s a magnificent job. To have the chance to coach your country is the pinnacle of any coaching career. I am aware that, after the enormous disappointment of the World Cup, there may have been a slight swing in popularity. I’d have been surprised had there not been. But the real support and popularity [that counts] is with the group of players I work with.

“I want to be respected by the players for the job I can do as a professional. That’s all that bothers me. I need them to believe that we can move forward and achieve things and I get good vibrations and feelings from them. I’m sure we will never, really, be able to explain to people how badly we felt on the plane home from Brazil. It’s all very well being asked how you feel – you try to put words to it – but the feelings we had in the dressing room after the Uruguay game in São Paulo will live with us for a long time. It’s up to us now to perform.

“Is it enough for us to come here, put 10 men behind the ball and sneak a 0-0? No, I’d say it isn’t. We have to play well and, if it costs us the result, we have to make sure we learn from losing the battle and make sure we win the war. Winning this game does not make us a great team in 2016. Neither does losing it make us a poor team in 2016. We are carrying on the process we started two years ago, despite the massive blow of the World Cup, and we have to make sure after these next two years we are very, very strong.”

Rooney’s support was offered up in praise of the work Hodgson is undertaking with a young, inexperienced side. “Us as a team, not just myself, we back Roy 100%,” the captain said. “We made that clear after we went out of the World Cup. He brings ideas to us. We know the tournament in the summer was a disappointment but I still feel we can move forward as a team. We’re progressing all the time and that will show in the next two years. The lads are working hard to get the best out of the ideas Roy is showing us. Hopefully we can do that in the next two years.”