Gareth Southgate is considering dropping Raheem Sterling and starting both Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Marcus Rashford against Panama on Sunday.

England are expected to be forced into at least one change from the team that beat Tunisia after Dele Alli sat out training here this morning with a thigh problem.

The FA confirmed last night that a scan revealed the Tottenham midfielder had sustained a muscular problem and England have begun planning without him for their second Group G match in Nizhny Novgorod.

Southgate’s assistant Steve Holland was pictured clutching notes outlining possible line-ups at today’s session in Repino. Both Loftus-Cheek and Rashford have been included, alongside the players who started Monday’s opening match in Volgograd. Intriguingly, England will also look at playing Sterling in a deeper midfield role.

The players were kept guessing over the starting line-up for England’s opener until the day before the game, so nothing definitive can be drawn from the notes.

But Sterling could now be fretting over his place after fading against Tunisia. The Manchester City forward made a bright start but missed an open goal and struggled to make an impact in the second half. He was replaced by Rashford, with Southgate offering a consoling arm around him as he trudged off.

In Pictures | The best images from the Fifa World Cup 2018 56 show all In Pictures | The best images from the Fifa World Cup 2018 1/56 France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris lifts the trophy after France won 4-2 vs Croatia at the 2018 World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia Martin Meissner/AP 2/56 France's Benjamin Mendy celebrates with the trophy after the final Rebecca Blackwell/AP 3/56 French President Emmanuel Macron reacts during the 2018 World Cup final between France and Croatia Alexei Nikolsky/AP 4/56 A portrait of French forward Kylian Mbappe projected on Paris' landmark Arc de Triomphe as FAN celebrate France's victory in the Russia 2018 World Cup final vs Croatia on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris Gerard/AFP/Getty Images 5/56 Croatia's Luka Modric and Mario Mandzukic dejected following theor 4-2 defeat vs Franc ein ther 2018 World Cup Final Dylan Martinez/Reuters 6/56 England's Gareth Southgate hugs his wife after their semi-final loss vs Croatia Rex Features 7/56 Croatia's Mario Mandzukic shoots and scores his team's winning goal during the Russia 2018 World Cup semi-final vs England at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images 8/56 Colombia head coach Jose Pekerman and England's Gareth Southgate comfort Colombia's Mateus Uribe after the round of 16 match between Colombia and England at the 2018World Cup in the Spartak Stadium, Moscow, Russia Alastair Grant/AP 9/56 England's Jordan Pickford celebrates after saving Colombia's Carlos Bacca penalty during the shootout with team mates John Sibley/Reuters 10/56 England players celebrate after Eric Dier scores the winning penalty in the penalty shoot out during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Round of 16 match between Colombia and England at Spartak Stadium in Moscow, Russia Matthias Hangst/Getty Images 11/56 Jordan Pickford saves a penalty during the shootout from Colombia's Carlos Bacca Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters 12/56 Belgium's Marouane Fellaini celebrates after scoring his second side goal during the round of 16 match between Belgium and Japan at the 2018 World Cup in the Rostov Arena, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia Hassan Ammar/AP 13/56 Spain's Andres Iniesta falls during the round of 16 match between Spain and Russia at the 2018 World Cup at the Luzhniki Stadium Matthias Schrader/AP 14/56 Uruguay's man of the match Edinson Cavani celebrates after he scored the first of his two goals during the round of 16 match between Uruguay and Portugal Francisco Seco/AP 15/56 Argentina's Marcos Rojo fouls France's Kylian Mbappe in the penalty area during the Russia 2018 World Cup round of 16 match at the Kazan Arena in Benjamin Cremel/AFP/Getty Images 16/56 Thomas Vermaelen of Belgium wins a header during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group G match between England and Belgium at Kaliningrad Stadium Matthias Hangst/Getty Images 17/56 Germany dejected following their defeat in the 2018 Fifa World Cup Russia Group F match vs Korea Republic Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images 18/56 A Russian fan kisses a replica of the FIFA 2018 World Cup trophy Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images 19/56 England's Jesse Lingard reacts as he celebrates with Raheem Sterling after scoring his team's third goal during their Group G match vs Panama Matthias Schrader/AP 20/56 England's Jesse Lingard scores a third goal va Panama Murad Sezer/Reuters 21/56 Panama's players pray after defeat during their Russia 2018 World Cup Group G match vs England at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium Johannes Eisell/AFP/Getty Images 22/56 Neymar sobs on the pitch after scoring late on in Brazil's 2-0 win over Costa Rica Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images 23/56 Brazil's Neymar Jr appeals for a penalty during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Group E match vs Costa Rica at Saint Petersburg Stadium Francois Nel/Getty Images 24/56 An upset Peru fan following his sides defeat in their 2018 Fifa World Cup Russia Group C match vs France Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images 25/56 Messi reacts as Croatia celebrate during their 3-0 drubbing of Argentina Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images 26/56 England's Steve Holland holds some training notes Jeremy Selwyn 27/56 Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo shoots at goal from a free kick vs Morocco Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters 28/56 Colombia's midfielder James Rodriguez dejected after their 2-1 loss vs Japan Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images 29/56 Japan's forward Yuya Osako (centre) celebrates after scoring a goal during their Russia 2018 World Cup Group H match vs Colombia Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images 30/56 Japan's Eiji Kawashima concedes a goal scored by Colombia's Juan Fernando Quintero Damir Sagolj/Reuters 31/56 Senegal fans cheer in the stands at the Spartak Stadium, Moscow, Russia Christian Hartmann/Reuters 32/56 England's Harry Kane celebrates after scoring his team's second goal during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Group G match vs Tunisia at Volgograd Arena Matthias Hangst/Getty Images 33/56 England's Harry Kane scoring the winning goal vs Tunisia Roman Pilipey/EPA 34/56 England celbrate Harry Kane's first goal vs Tunisa Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters 35/56 England's forward Harry Kane scores his team's first goal Nicolad Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images 36/56 England manager Gareth Southgate after thier victory over Tunisa Sercio Perez/Reuters 37/56 Brazil's Neymar falls during their Russia 2018 World Cup Group E match vs Switzerland at the Rostov Arena Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images 38/56 Mexico's Hirving Lozano celebrates with Jesus Gallardo after scoring his team's first goal during their 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Group F match vs Germany at Luzhniki Stadium Matthias Hangst/Getty Images 39/56 Thomas Mueller of Germany following his sides defeat in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Group F match between Germany and Mexico at Luzhniki Stadium Hector Vivas/Getty Images 40/56 Switzerland's Steven Zuber levels the score vs Brazil Andrew Medichini/AP 41/56 Costa Rica's goalkeeper Keylor Navas punches the ball away from Serbia's Branislav Ivanovic (centre) during their Russia 2018 World Cup Group E match at the Samara Arena Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images 42/56 Australian players protest as referee Andres Cunha from Uruguay decides on penalty after consulting with the VAR during theIr Group C match vs France David Vincent/AP 43/56 Iceland's Hannes Halldorsson saves a penalty from Argentina's Lionel Messi during their FIFA World Cup 2018 Group D match in Moscow, Russia Felipe Trueba/EPA 44/56 Peru's Edison Flores in acton vs Denmark's Henrik Dalsgaard Erik S. Lesser/EPA 45/56 Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring his third goal vs Spain Hannah McKay/Reuters 46/56 Sam Morsy of Egypt and Edinson Cavani of Uruguay battle for possession during their 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Group A match at Ekaterinburg Arena in Yekaterinburg, Russia Matthias Hangst/Getty Images 47/56 Fans in the stands watching Morocco vs Iran Lee Smith/Reuters 48/56 Achilles the cat predicts a win for Russia vs Saudia Arabia Dmitri Lovetsky/AP 49/56 England manager Gareth Southgate and England's Harry Kane receive gifts before training Lee Smith/Reuters 50/56 Rigobert Youmbi from Cameroon poses for a photo wearing body paint in the Russian colours Rebecca Blackwell/AP 51/56 Amr Warda of Egypt attempts an overhead kick Dan Mullan/Getty Images 52/56 Brazil's Neymar (not in frame) and Gabriel Jesus (C) break an egg on the head of teammate Philippe Coutinho as they celebrate his birthday during a training session at Sochi Municipal Stadium Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images 53/56 Serbian hairdresser Mario Hvala creates a hair tattoo showing the portrait of Argentinian football player Lionel Messi on the head of a football fan in Novi Sad, Serbia Vladimir Zivojinovic/AFP/Getty Images 54/56 Russia's midfielder Yuri Gazinskiy celebrates scoring the opening goal with his teammates during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group A football match vs Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images 55/56 Former player player Ronaldo during the opening ceremony Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters 56/56 Robbie Williams performs during the opening ceremony Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters 1/56 France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris lifts the trophy after France won 4-2 vs Croatia at the 2018 World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia Martin Meissner/AP 2/56 France's Benjamin Mendy celebrates with the trophy after the final Rebecca Blackwell/AP 3/56 French President Emmanuel Macron reacts during the 2018 World Cup final between France and Croatia Alexei Nikolsky/AP 4/56 A portrait of French forward Kylian Mbappe projected on Paris' landmark Arc de Triomphe as FAN celebrate France's victory in the Russia 2018 World Cup final vs Croatia on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris Gerard/AFP/Getty Images 5/56 Croatia's Luka Modric and Mario Mandzukic dejected following theor 4-2 defeat vs Franc ein ther 2018 World Cup Final Dylan Martinez/Reuters 6/56 England's Gareth Southgate hugs his wife after their semi-final loss vs Croatia Rex Features 7/56 Croatia's Mario Mandzukic shoots and scores his team's winning goal during the Russia 2018 World Cup semi-final vs England at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images 8/56 Colombia head coach Jose Pekerman and England's Gareth Southgate comfort Colombia's Mateus Uribe after the round of 16 match between Colombia and England at the 2018World Cup in the Spartak Stadium, Moscow, Russia Alastair Grant/AP 9/56 England's Jordan Pickford celebrates after saving Colombia's Carlos Bacca penalty during the shootout with team mates John Sibley/Reuters 10/56 England players celebrate after Eric Dier scores the winning penalty in the penalty shoot out during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Round of 16 match between Colombia and England at Spartak Stadium in Moscow, Russia Matthias Hangst/Getty Images 11/56 Jordan Pickford saves a penalty during the shootout from Colombia's Carlos Bacca Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters 12/56 Belgium's Marouane Fellaini celebrates after scoring his second side goal during the round of 16 match between Belgium and Japan at the 2018 World Cup in the Rostov Arena, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia Hassan Ammar/AP 13/56 Spain's Andres Iniesta falls during the round of 16 match between Spain and Russia at the 2018 World Cup at the Luzhniki Stadium Matthias Schrader/AP 14/56 Uruguay's man of the match Edinson Cavani celebrates after he scored the first of his two goals during the round of 16 match between Uruguay and Portugal Francisco Seco/AP 15/56 Argentina's Marcos Rojo fouls France's Kylian Mbappe in the penalty area during the Russia 2018 World Cup round of 16 match at the Kazan Arena in Benjamin Cremel/AFP/Getty Images 16/56 Thomas Vermaelen of Belgium wins a header during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group G match between England and Belgium at Kaliningrad Stadium Matthias Hangst/Getty Images 17/56 Germany dejected following their defeat in the 2018 Fifa World Cup Russia Group F match vs Korea Republic Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images 18/56 A Russian fan kisses a replica of the FIFA 2018 World Cup trophy Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images 19/56 England's Jesse Lingard reacts as he celebrates with Raheem Sterling after scoring his team's third goal during their Group G match vs Panama Matthias Schrader/AP 20/56 England's Jesse Lingard scores a third goal va Panama Murad Sezer/Reuters 21/56 Panama's players pray after defeat during their Russia 2018 World Cup Group G match vs England at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium Johannes Eisell/AFP/Getty Images 22/56 Neymar sobs on the pitch after scoring late on in Brazil's 2-0 win over Costa Rica Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images 23/56 Brazil's Neymar Jr appeals for a penalty during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Group E match vs Costa Rica at Saint Petersburg Stadium Francois Nel/Getty Images 24/56 An upset Peru fan following his sides defeat in their 2018 Fifa World Cup Russia Group C match vs France Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images 25/56 Messi reacts as Croatia celebrate during their 3-0 drubbing of Argentina Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images 26/56 England's Steve Holland holds some training notes Jeremy Selwyn 27/56 Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo shoots at goal from a free kick vs Morocco Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters 28/56 Colombia's midfielder James Rodriguez dejected after their 2-1 loss vs Japan Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images 29/56 Japan's forward Yuya Osako (centre) celebrates after scoring a goal during their Russia 2018 World Cup Group H match vs Colombia Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images 30/56 Japan's Eiji Kawashima concedes a goal scored by Colombia's Juan Fernando Quintero Damir Sagolj/Reuters 31/56 Senegal fans cheer in the stands at the Spartak Stadium, Moscow, Russia Christian Hartmann/Reuters 32/56 England's Harry Kane celebrates after scoring his team's second goal during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Group G match vs Tunisia at Volgograd Arena Matthias Hangst/Getty Images 33/56 England's Harry Kane scoring the winning goal vs Tunisia Roman Pilipey/EPA 34/56 England celbrate Harry Kane's first goal vs Tunisa Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters 35/56 England's forward Harry Kane scores his team's first goal Nicolad Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images 36/56 England manager Gareth Southgate after thier victory over Tunisa Sercio Perez/Reuters 37/56 Brazil's Neymar falls during their Russia 2018 World Cup Group E match vs Switzerland at the Rostov Arena Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images 38/56 Mexico's Hirving Lozano celebrates with Jesus Gallardo after scoring his team's first goal during their 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Group F match vs Germany at Luzhniki Stadium Matthias Hangst/Getty Images 39/56 Thomas Mueller of Germany following his sides defeat in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Group F match between Germany and Mexico at Luzhniki Stadium Hector Vivas/Getty Images 40/56 Switzerland's Steven Zuber levels the score vs Brazil Andrew Medichini/AP 41/56 Costa Rica's goalkeeper Keylor Navas punches the ball away from Serbia's Branislav Ivanovic (centre) during their Russia 2018 World Cup Group E match at the Samara Arena Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images 42/56 Australian players protest as referee Andres Cunha from Uruguay decides on penalty after consulting with the VAR during theIr Group C match vs France David Vincent/AP 43/56 Iceland's Hannes Halldorsson saves a penalty from Argentina's Lionel Messi during their FIFA World Cup 2018 Group D match in Moscow, Russia Felipe Trueba/EPA 44/56 Peru's Edison Flores in acton vs Denmark's Henrik Dalsgaard Erik S. Lesser/EPA 45/56 Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring his third goal vs Spain Hannah McKay/Reuters 46/56 Sam Morsy of Egypt and Edinson Cavani of Uruguay battle for possession during their 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Group A match at Ekaterinburg Arena in Yekaterinburg, Russia Matthias Hangst/Getty Images 47/56 Fans in the stands watching Morocco vs Iran Lee Smith/Reuters 48/56 Achilles the cat predicts a win for Russia vs Saudia Arabia Dmitri Lovetsky/AP 49/56 England manager Gareth Southgate and England's Harry Kane receive gifts before training Lee Smith/Reuters 50/56 Rigobert Youmbi from Cameroon poses for a photo wearing body paint in the Russian colours Rebecca Blackwell/AP 51/56 Amr Warda of Egypt attempts an overhead kick Dan Mullan/Getty Images 52/56 Brazil's Neymar (not in frame) and Gabriel Jesus (C) break an egg on the head of teammate Philippe Coutinho as they celebrate his birthday during a training session at Sochi Municipal Stadium Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images 53/56 Serbian hairdresser Mario Hvala creates a hair tattoo showing the portrait of Argentinian football player Lionel Messi on the head of a football fan in Novi Sad, Serbia Vladimir Zivojinovic/AFP/Getty Images 54/56 Russia's midfielder Yuri Gazinskiy celebrates scoring the opening goal with his teammates during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group A football match vs Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images 55/56 Former player player Ronaldo during the opening ceremony Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters 56/56 Robbie Williams performs during the opening ceremony Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

The manager defended Sterling after his performance — the 21st consecutive international he has gone without scoring — saying he was “really pleased with the performance he gave — his touch, his movement”.

However, Rashford and Loftus-Cheek impressed in their brief cameos and both are now serious contenders to play in a match which will book England’s place in the last 16 if they win and Tunisia fail to beat Belgium.

Loftus-Cheek’s inclusion would be a huge show of faith in a player with just five senior caps to his name. He spent last season on loan at Crystal Palace, scoring twice in 25 appearances, and played well in both warm-up games, against Nigeria and Costa Rica.

Rashford scored a stunning goal against the latter and injected fresh impetus against Tunisia as England went in search of a winning goal, duly provided in stoppage-time by Harry Kane.

In Pictures | England 2018 World Cup Training | 19.06.2018 16 show all In Pictures | England 2018 World Cup Training | 19.06.2018 1/16 Jeremy Selwyn 2/16 Jeremy Selwyn 3/16 Reuters 4/16 Reuters 5/16 Jeremy Selwyn 6/16 Reuters 7/16 Reuters 8/16 Reuters 9/16 Jeremy Selwyn 10/16 Reuters 11/16 Reuters 12/16 Reuters 13/16 Reuters 14/16 Jeremy Selwyn 15/16 Jeremy Selwyn 16/16 Jeremy Selwyn 1/16 Jeremy Selwyn 2/16 Jeremy Selwyn 3/16 Reuters 4/16 Reuters 5/16 Jeremy Selwyn 6/16 Reuters 7/16 Reuters 8/16 Reuters 9/16 Jeremy Selwyn 10/16 Reuters 11/16 Reuters 12/16 Reuters 13/16 Reuters 14/16 Jeremy Selwyn 15/16 Jeremy Selwyn 16/16 Jeremy Selwyn

Southgate led by example at this morning’s session, showing no ill effects from the dislocated shoulder he suffered while out running yesterday.

The 47-year-old took the session as normal and was not wearing a sling he was pictured with yesterday evening while addressing the players after having received treatment in a St Petersburg hospital and from team doctor Rob Chakraverty.

“I might not be celebrating any goals as athletically in future,” said Southgate. “The doctor has made it clear that punching the air is not an option.”