England to start with Jamie Vardy up front against Italy - even though he failed to touch the ball in Holland

Jamie Vardy is set to start for England against Italy on Tuesday night, despite admitting he failed to touch the ball during his 22-minute substitute appearance against Holland.

England manager Gareth Southgate started with Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling up front in Amsterdam as he looks at alternatives to Harry Kane, who is injured.

Vardy replaced Rashford in the 68th minute of England’s 1-0 victory over Holland, but, incredibly, did not touch the ball once during his time on the pitch.

The 31 year-old thought it was the first time in his career, dating back to his non-League days, that he had spent a significant period of time on the pitch without managing to touch the ball at all.

Asked if he had touched the ball, Vardy said: “No! It’s probably never happened to me before, but I did a lot of running.

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“I came on at a time that Holland were trying to get a goal back. As a striker, you do sometimes have to sacrifice yourself and we just want to make sure we attack as a team and defend as a team, so I had to help out the midfield as well.”

When a reporter joked that by not touching the ball he could not be accused of making any mistakes and that his work off the ball must have been really good, Vardy added: “Exactly. That’s a good point. I’ll take that!”

Vardy’s inability to touch the ball in Amsterdam is unlikely to change Southgate’s plan to start the Leicester City star against Italy at Wembley.

“I’m hopeful I’ll play, but it’s up to the boss what formation he plays and which players he wants to pick, so we’ll have to wait and see,” said Vardy.

Kane’s absence has given Vardy and the rest of the England strikers a chance to stake their claims ahead of the World Cup in Russia and Southgate’s decision to start with a front two against Holland has given them further encouragement that places are still up for grabs.

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“Above all it’s encouraging for the entire team,” said Vardy. “Going into tournaments you don’t want to have just one plan. It gives us options and the performance we put in against Holland shows we can play different formations and we might have to use that in the World Cup.”

England have only scored three goals in their last five games, during which time they have not scored more than once in a single match. But Vardy is currently on a hot streak of form, having netted seven times in his last nine Leicester appearances.

“I just give 100 per cent in every game and keep getting my goals and, hopefully, that will continue until the end of the season and get me selected for the World Cup squad,” said Vardy. “But you don’t take anything for granted. I hope that first and foremost I’m playing well for Leicester to give me a chance. The past nine games I’ve been getting the goals and long may that continue. Hopefully, it will continue until the end of the season.”

In terms of England’s problems in front of goal, Vardy added: “We’re still progressing. We want to make sure that, as against Holland, we are solid. Keeping clean sheets is always good because with the attackers we’ve got there are goals in the team to get us the victories.”

Vardy’s extraordinary personal journey from non-League was one of the highlights of Leicester’s Premier League title success, but he still hopes the World Cup could provide another chapter to his story.

“That’s what I always wanted to do (play in a World Cup),” said Vardy. “So I just make sure I knuckle down every time I get the chance to play and, hopefully, I’ll make it.

“You’ve always got to look forward to a World Cup. Qualifying for them is difficult. We’ve got ourselves there and now it’s all about getting ourselves right for the start of the tournament.

“I think every single country that’s qualified for the World Cup will have expectations. You’ll get it from fans and from the media. But, first and foremost, we need to concentrate on our game, what we do and how we can improve and make it better.”