Roy Hodgson has not given up hope of persuading his captain, Steven Gerrard, to prolong his international career beyond the summer's World Cup as the England head coach awaits Sunday's draw for the qualifying phase for Euro 2016.

Gerrard turns 34 in May and, if he features in the friendly fixtures against Denmark, Peru, Ecuador and Honduras in the buildup to the finals in Brazil, will line up for his 113th cap against Italy in Manaus as England open their tournament on 14 June. The Liverpool midfielder is expected to step down from the national side after the finals – the World Cup will be his sixth major tournament – in an effort to prolong his playing career at club level, though Hodgson will speak with him once the team's participation in South America has been concluded.

The influential veteran was the most used of England's outfield players over the team's unbeaten qualification for Brazil, playing 670 minutes in his eight matches, and scored the late goal that ensured victory over Poland in the decisive final fixture. Asked if Gerrard could still lead the national team into the Euro 2016 qualification campaign, Hodgson said: "I don't know if he necessarily couldn't. He will be 34 in May so he will be getting on for 36 [at the time of the finals in France], so I think a lot will depend on him and how he feels, and depend on how he is playing. At the moment there has been no slowing down in his play. Who knows what the future will bring? Time will tell.

"The [deeper-lying] role he is playing for Liverpool he has played for us as well in one or two games, and it went well. These days, teams have a degree of fluidity so, even though they may start him deeper with Coutinho and [Jordan] Henderson further forward, in reality Steven still gets forward and Henderson drops in. So I think a player like Steven, who is such an all-round player, will give you good attacking work and good defending work. Whether that spares him running or not, I don't know. Sometimes you think he is not doing as much there but you might be surprised."

Hodgson, recently returned from Manaus, will attend Sunday's draw for Euro 2016 qualifying in Nice's Palais des Congrès Acropolis, where England will be included in the first pot of seeds, avoiding Germany, Spain, Italy and Holland among others in their six-team group. Scotland and Wales are among the fourth seeds, Northern Ireland in the fifth pot, while Martin O'Neill will begin his first competitive campaign with the Republic of Ireland in the second group of teams. Gibraltar, who were accepted as Uefa members last year, will compete in their first campaign but cannot be paired with Spain in qualifying "for political reasons".

The nine groups – eight of six teams and one section of five which will be completed by the hosts, France, whose games will be friendlies and will have no bearing on the standings – will be drawn by Ruud Gullit and Bixente Lizarazu, with the nine section winners, the nine group runners-up and the best third-placed side qualifying directly for the finals. The eight remaining third-placed teams will contest play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the 24-nation finals.

Given the greater number of sides involved at Euro 2016 there have been suggestions that qualification should be more straightforward for Europe's more fancied sides, though Hodgson, whose contract extends to the end of Euro 2016, remained wary of what awaits his own charges. "I don't know – I think we judge teams on names, but you have to get out and beat them," he said. "Montenegro are a good example: people tended to suggest they'd be a piece of cake when we were paired with them before, but that wasn't the case either over there or at Wembley. They had some good players. I think you find in these pots three, four and five, will be some good teams in there, and what about the home nations? If we get drawn against Northern Ireland, that is not a gimme by any stretch of the imagination."

Hodgson will name a swollen squad of at least 30 names on Thursday for next month's friendly against the Danes at Wembley, with Raheem Sterling and Luke Shaw to be included, and the Southampton striker Jay Rodriguez – who made his debut against Chile in November – likely to be offered another chance after fine recent form.