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England manager Roy Hodgson has dismissed the prospect of qualifying for the World Cup via the play-offs by insisting his side are playing for a win against Poland on Tuesday.

Victory for the Three Lions will confirm their participation in next summer's tournament in Brazil.

Anything less than three points and the prospect of a two-legged play-off tie looms, with Ukraine playing San Marino in a game where they are widely expected to win.

A slip up by Hodgson's men could see them land a tough play-off draw, with the likes of Croatia, France and Portugal likely to be in the hat.

However, the Three Lions' boss has shrugged off the potential scenario by insisting his players will be going for the jugular in front of a Wembley crowd.

"I'm not thinking of the play-offs," insisted Hodgson. "As far as I'm concerned I still feel the focus is on this as a game we want to win.

"I don't think we shall be very satisfied if we don't win. We know we've got the play-offs but I don't think that will affect the attitude of the players.

"We're a good team, we're at home and we'll want to win."

Hodgson also claimed that previous results in the fixture do not hold any relevance to him.

He added: "Every game's a new game and each Poland team that's played England has been a very different team so as far as we're concerned we'll do our job against the Poland we will face.

"History's important when it comes to not making political mistakes but I don't think it has any relevance in sport whatsoever.

"It would be nice if we could win the game on polls but unfortunately whether it's 96 per cent, 100 per cent or two per cent who believe we're going to win, it'll be when the referee blows his whistle and when we cross the white line to play the game that counts.

"That's all that matters to us and it's the only thing that we're remotely focused on."

(Image: Ian Walton)

With Glen Johnson out injured and Kyle Walker suspended for the final group game, Hodgson admitted he did know who was going to pick to operate at right-back.

"I'm not even certain the players are certain who's going to play at right-back in place of the suspended Kyle Walker," said Hodgson.

"I think I'll keep the ideas about the team to myself for the moment, not least of all because the players haven't been informed.

"I'm not certain they have a clear idea as there's been no functional work done [in training]."

England head into in the game buoyant mood following Friday night's 4-1 dismantling of Montenegro.