Roy Hodgson has urged his England players to deliver a rousing statement of intent against Belgium on Saturday afternoon, with the national manager set to continue his preparations for Euro 2012 by handing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Danny Welbeck starts in the team's send-off match at Wembley.

Oxlade-Chamberlain, who made his debut at this level as a substitute in Norway last Saturday, is expected to begin on the left of midfield where he was stationed in an attacking training drill at the national stadium on Friday. Hodgson, who will revert to a backline dominated by personnel from Chelsea, is keen to assess the Arsenal 18-year-old against what is, on paper, a strong Belgium side as he seeks options across the centre.

Ashley Young will again operate in an advanced position off a lone forward, though Andy Carroll – so impressive in Oslo – is likely to begin on the bench with Young's club-mate Welbeck offered a fifth cap. The Manchester United striker had been frustrated by an ankle injury picked up in the defeat to neighbours City at the end of April but returned to full training this week and, with England's opening Group D game against France nine days away, will have an opportunity to prove his own credentials.

That lineup would see only four players – including Scott Parker, who will be granted another opportunity to gain match fitness from the start – retained from the team who started at the Ullevaal stadium in Hodgson's first game. Although the England manager insisted his first match in charge at Wembley should be considered another "preparatory" occasion with the tournament in mind, he has impressed on his players the need to generate momentum in the buildup to the finals.

"I want the players to go and show how enthusiastic they are about this tournament, how determined they are to work their socks off to get the best results possible," he said. "I want them to show that their attitude towards this tournament is going to be: 'No fair-minded person will be able to say we didn't give our best, we didn't work hard enough or want it badly enough.' If they can give a performance that, in some way, shows that then it'll make me happy.

"This will be a fantastic occasion: 90,000 people, at Wembley stadium, on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee … it'll be a very big occasion for me personally."

England will depart for Poland next week having seen their prospects potentially damaged by injuries to Jack Wilshere, Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard, and with Wayne Rooney suspended for the first two matches. Theirs is an inexperienced squad, only nine of whom have ever featured previously in a major tournament. Yet, while all concerned remain realistic, there is optimism too.

"Maybe people are looking at this squad – no Wilshere, [Tom] Cleverley, Barry, Lampard – and wondering whether we're capable of coping without those players," said the captain, Steven Gerrard. "But we're quietly confident. We don't want to raise expectations unnecessarily and are all aware we've under-delivered in previous tournaments. But let's see what happens. This is a very difficult tournament. It's harder to win than the World Cup and, if you look at our previous form in tournaments, you'd say no [we can't win it]. But if you look at Greece and Denmark [in 2004 and 1992], Liverpool in 2005 and Chelsea in this year's Champions League, you still have that bit of belief."

Joe Hart will start, with Ashley Cole, John Terry, Gary Cahill and Glen Johnson across the back. The latter, a keen user of the social networking tool Twitter, will be permitted by the Football Association to update his followers along with England's other tweeters during the finals, unlike their counterparts in the Spanish squad who have been told not to use the site. The FA and England's players, however, will look to Uefa to act should they be subjected to incidents of racist abuse in Poland and Ukraine.

The squad were addressed by Zigi Shipper and Ben Helfgott, two Polish-born Holocaust survivors, on Thursday evening with the impact of their stories profound. "My stance [on any incidents of racism] is very simple: it's a matter for referees and Uefa," Hodgson said. "You're talking about something that is abhorrent to everybody. Not just in football, but in every walk of life. It was brought home to me with great effect when we listened to two survivors of the Holocaust who have a story to tell of how prejudice cost them everything but their lives. It did cost six million others their lives.

"Racism in any form is abhorrent and I'm sure it's a topic that is being heavily debated in Uefa. I bet they've been debating it since it was decided the tournament would take place in Poland and Ukraine. If Uefa decide that, if this happens, it will be the referee's job [to take the players from the field], we will be the first people to side along with that. I want Uefa and referees to control the issue."