England manager Roy Hodgson has explained his decision to start with Andy Carroll in attack for tonight's Euro 2012 Group D clash with Sweden in Kiev.

The Liverpool striker has got the nod up front as expected as he replaces Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the side.

"It's important to get another forward player on the field tonight and more importantly I wanted Ashley Young to go back to his original position, which is as a wide player, with a view to Wayne Rooney coming back into the team against Ukraine," Hodgson told BBC Sport.

"Alex [Oxlade-Chamberlain] did well in the first game but I thought it would be a good idea to give him a chance from the bench rather than the start.

"Andy Carroll will be useful to us in both penalty boxes. Against a team with the height and power of Sweden we needed as much aerial height as possible."

England drew their first game of the tournament 1-1 with France, while Sweden were defeated 2-1 by co-hosts Ukraine.