Good afternoon! Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's Euro 2016 warm-up match between England and Turkey at the Etihad Stadium. Preparations for this summer's tournament are now well underway for both of these sides, the today marks the start of the home straight towards France as Roy Hodgson and Fatih Terim begin to think of trimming their squads down to the final 23. Time is running out for players to impress, so let's start with a look at the team news today...

ENGLAND STARTING XI: Hart; Walker, Cahill, Stones, Rose; Dier, Wilshere, Alli; Sterling, Kane, Vardy

ENGLAND SUBS: Forster, Heaton, Bertrand, Henderson, Drinkwater, Barkley, Townsend, Delph

TURKEY STARTING XI: Babacan; Gonul, Balta, Topal, Erkin; Ozyakup, Inan, Tufan; Sen, Tosun, Calhanoglu

TURKEY SUBS: Kivrak, Tekin, Ozbayrakli, Calik, Potuk, Sahan, Tore, Koybasi, Malli, Erdinc, Tekdemir, Oztekin, Soyuncu, Mor

What can we make of those two sides, then? Well, the headline news as far as England is concerned is that Jack Wilshere starts in midfield for the Three Lions, despite only making one start all season for Arsenal. There are major question marks over his fitness heading into the tournament, and Hodgson hinted that the main reason for selecting a preliminary 26-man squad was to test Wilshere and Liverpool's Jordan Henderson, who has also recent returned from injury. The latter only makes the bench this afternoon, but Wilshere is handed a starting berth.

The Arsenal man will be flanked in midfield by two Tottenham rivals as Eric Dier and Dele Alli are both named in the starting XI after enjoying fine seasons with Spurs. Both have established themselves as key members of both their club and national sides over the course of the campaign and are expected to start at the Euros too having moved in front of a number of other players in the pecking order. It was a disappointing end to the season for Spurs, of course, and particularly Alli as he missed out through suspension, but they will be keen to put that to the back of their minds over the next month or so.

In all there are five Tottenham players named in the starting lineup, and while Dier and Alli have both enjoyed fine seasons, there is no doubt that the most high-profile of them is Harry Kane. His 25 goals in the Premier League this season weren't quite enough to fire Spurs to the title - or even second place in the end - but he did win the Golden Boot and already has a place among an elite list of strikers having scored 20 goals in back-to-back Premier League seasons. He has established himself as England's number one striker over that time, although he does face stiff competition from the man alongside him today.

Jamie Vardy finished one goal behind Kane in the Golden Boot race but did celebrate a magnificent season with the Premier League title for Leicester. There were pops between him and Kane on social media as the title race progressed, but Kane insists that there is no problem between the pair, and Hodgson clearly concurs having started both today. Vardy has scored in each of his last two games for England, but he is expected to play in a wider role than he is used to tonight, with Hodgson likely to go for a 4-2-3-1 formation. His energy means that he shouldn't have a problem getting up alongside Kane to help him, though, and on the basis of the season just gone that would be a prolific partnership.

Elsewhere, Raheem Sterling is also named in the starting lineup despite having struggled to establish himself in his first season at Manchester City. It could be arguably that he has gone backwards since his £50m move from Liverpool, and while he was deemed as England's most exciting prospect heading into the World Cup two years ago, he has been displaced from that role by a number of players in the intervening years. There are plenty of players pushing for a start in those forward positions, so Sterling could really do with a positive performance this afternoon.

At the back, Gary Cahill captains the team in Wayne Rooney's absence, and he is joined in defence by John Stones with Smalling also available for this match. Walker starts on the opposite flank to club teammate Danny Rose as part of that aforementioned Tottenham contingent, but it is far to say that three of those places in the back four are still up for grabs. Clyne, Smalling and Bertrand will all fancy their chances of staking a claim for a starting role at the Euros, with Cahill perhaps the most comfortable in his position at this stage. Behind them, Hart is almost a certainty to start in France, particularly after Butland's injury kept him out of the squad.

There are, of course, a number of names missing from that lineup, with Hodgson unable to pick Manchester United or Liverpool players today. United were in FA Cup final action only yesterday, and so captain Wayne Rooney along with Chris Smalling and Marcus Rashford will not join up with the squad until next week. Clyne, Sturridge, Milner and Lallana, meanwhile, all featured in the Europa League final on Wednesday so also miss out, with Henderson - an unused sub in Basel - being the Reds' only representative.

As for Turkey, they are also missing some key players with Arda Turan, Nuri Sahin and Burak Yilmaz still fulfilling club commitments and so unavailable. In their absence, the visitors' biggest threat is expected to come from Calhanoglu, whose performances in the Bundesliga have seen him linked with some big names in European football. In all, Fatih Terim has made only two changes to the side that beat Austria in their most recent outing.

There are a number of players in that Turkey side who are capable of causing England plenty of problems, and while the hosts go into this match as favourites, it should still be a good test for them. Roy Hodgson has made a point of testing his side against some of the best teams in Europe over the past few months, with friendlies against Spain, France, Germany and Netherlands in their last four outings. They have had mixed fortunes in that time with two wins and two defeats, but it is all important preparation ahead of this summer's tournament.

The fact that England have beaten the two tournament favourites - France and Germany - since their qualifying campaign should be of encouragement to fans, particularly the manner in which they beat the world champions in that memorable clash in Berlin. However, Netherlands quickly put a dampener on any enthusiasm with a 2-1 win at Wembley just a few days later. The Dutch failed to even qualify for Euro 2016, so it was not a good result at all for Hodgson's side.

It was also a very rare defeat at home for England, ending a nine-match winning streak in front of their own fans. England had not been beaten at Wembley since defeat at the hands of Germany in a friendly in November 2013, keeping eight clean sheets and conceding just three goals in their 10 matches since. That includes four wins and four clean sheets from their last five friendlies at home, although again the exception is that Netherlands loss.

This will be England's first home game away from Wembley since February 2007, when they were beaten 1-0 by Spain in another game in Manchester. It will be followed by another on Friday as England welcome Australia to the Stadium of Light in their final match before Hodgson has to trim his squad down from 26 men to 23. The Three Lions will then take on Portugal in their final warm-up match before heading to France and getting their campaign underway on June 11.

Russia are England's opponents in that match, and Roy Hodgson's side have also been drawn against Wales and Slovakia in Group B of the tournament. It is now 50 years since England lifted their one and only major international honour at the 1966 World Cup on home soil, but the bookies still make them fourth favourites to bring home the trophy. Host nation France, world champions Germany and defending champions Spain are the only teams above them in the betting pecking order.

In addition to beating France and Germany recently, those odds also reflect England's qualification campaign. They passed through with a perfect record of 10 wins from 10 - the first time that they have ever managed that when qualifying for a major international tournament. They were the only team to do it when reaching Euro 2016, and only the sixth team to manage it for a European Championship either. Of the previous five, though, only Spain in 2012 have won on to win the competition, with two group-stage exits, one in the quarter-finals and one in the semis.

It is hard to argue against their statistics, though, even if their qualifying group was not the hardest. They ended as the second-highest scorers and with the second best defence throughout the whole of qualify, ending the campaign nine points clear of second-placed Switzerland in Group E. It was certainly a good way to respond to the disappointment of the 2014 World Cup, when they were eliminated in the group stages.

Turkey have suffered their own disappointments when it comes to major international tournaments in recent years, failing to even reach one since 2008. They fell short while qualifying for both of the last two World Cups in addition to the Euros from four years ago, which would have come as even more of a disappointment after their showing in 2008. They made it all the way to the semi-finals on that occasion, and were only knocked out by Germany as Philipp Lahm scored a 90th-minute winner to seal a 3-2 victory for the eventual runners-up.

They will head into their first tournament for eight years feeling confident of putting in a good showing too. They come into today's match as one of the form national teams in Europe, going 13 matches without defeat in all competitions. That run stretches back to a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Brazil in November 2014, since when Turkey have won 10 and drawn three of their games. That also includes a 3-0 win over Netherlands, who beat England in their last outing.

Their defensive record during that run has been impressive too, with six clean sheets in those 13 games and not a single match in which they have let in more than one goal. Should they be able to keep that up over their three warm-up games then hopes will be high of surprising a few people. Turkey will take on Croatia in their first Euro 2016 match on June 12 before subsequent games against Spain and Czech Republic.

It is not an easy group for Turkey, then, and they are clearly not fancied by many to go too far in the competition. The bookies rate them 80-1 long shots to go all the way and win the tournament, which is higher odds than the likes of Russia and Wales. They are, however, just three spots below England in the FIFA rankings, with their place in 13th seeing them ranked higher than the likes of Italy, Netherlands France and Poland, as well as their fellow Group D members Croatia and Czech Republic.

Czech Republic were also in Turkey's qualification group for this tournament, finishing top of the pile ahead of Iceland and then Turkey in third. Fatih Terim's side got off to a slow start with defeats in their first two qualifying matches, but they won five and drew three of the next eight to squeeze their way on the plane to France. There was no shortage of drama, though, as Turkey needed a last-minute winner from Selcuk Inan in the final match against Iceland to see them clinch automatic qualification as the best third-placed team.

Turkey finished five points above Netherlands in that qualification group, but were still two off Iceland and four behind the Czechs. They had a good record away from home during qualifying, though, and come into today's match having won each of their last five away games. Their unbeaten run stretches back even further to September 2014, when they were beaten 3-0 by Iceland. In terms of friendlies, though, they have won their last four on the road and seven of their last eight dating back to August 2012.

The only exception in that time was a defeat to USA in June 2014 - one of only two friendly losses in their last 16 home or away. Turkey have won 12 of those games too, including five of their last six, with one draw in that time. Since completing their qualifying campaign, Turkey have beaten Qatar, Sweden and Austria as well as being held to a goalless draw by Greece.

PREDICTION: Right, we're 10 minutes away from kickoff at the Etihad, which means that it is time for a prediction! Turkey may be in decent form heading into this one, but England have a formidable record in front of their own fans and should be confident of beginning their warm-up matches with a win here. I'm going for 2-0 to the hosts.

England have a sensational record against Turkey in past meetings between the two sides, going unbeaten in their previous 10 clashes and winning eight of those. This is the first time that the two have ever crossed swords in a friendly match, with the previous games all coming during qualifying campaigns.

The most recent of those saw a goalless draw played out during qualifying for Euro 2004 in October 2003, but on Turkey's last visit to these shores they were beaten 2-0 earlier in that campaign. Both of England's goals came in the final 15 minutes of that game, with Darius Vassell getting the first before David Beckham sealed the win in stoppage time with a penalty.

Incredibly, Turkey have never even managed to score against England before, with the Three Lions keeping clean sheets in all of the 10 previous meetings. That makes Turkey the nation that England have played most often without conceding a goal, and they have generally enjoyed themselves at the other end too. England have scored 31 goals in their 10 meetings - an average of more than three per game.

Right, the players are out, the anthems have been sung and we're just about ready to go at the Etihad! It isn't exactly a full stadium, it must be said, with this game perhaps having flown under the radar a little coming as it does just a day after the FA Cup final.

KICKOFF: Here we go then! Alli and Kane get England underway at the Etihad for their first Euro 2016 warm-up match.

Very nearly an early chance for Vardy as Kane picks up a loose pass and slides it in behind the defence, but Vardy is just short of connecting with the ball.

What a start this has been for England! They take the lead in under three minutes, and it is the Tottenham connection again. Sterling slides a pass in to Alli, who in turn squeezes a pass through for Kane. He spins and confidently finishes into the bottom corner, although the replays showed that the striker was offside.

CHANCE! Turkey almost respond immediately as they come forward down the right flank, with the ball being pulled back to Ozan Tufan. He looks to pick out the bottom corner from inside the box, but Walker slides in to make a brilliant block.

SAVE! Turkey have responded very well to falling behind so early, and Hart is needed to make the save here. He gets down smart at his near post to deny Tosun's low effort from a tight angle.

England will have been delighted with their start to this match, but since the goal Turkey have been the team on top. Positive signs for both sides in this opening eight minutes.

The hosts are now starting to get themselves back into the match having had to weather a short storm from Turkey in the immediate aftermath of the opening goal.

England win a free kick in a good position here as Alli beats Gokhan to the ball having seen an attempted pass to Vardy cut out. The Tottenham man is showing no signs of ring rust after his club suspension.

SHOT! Kane lines up the free kick and, despite it being on the corner of the area, looks to drill a shot towards goal. It ends up being a mixture of a cross and a shot, flashing across the face of goal, but no-one is there to turn it in.

Turkey level things up, and finally have a goal against England! It is a well-worked goal too as a pass is slid down the right channel for Sen, who manages to beat Hart to the ball after the keeper came racing off his line. Sen dinks a pass over Hart to Calhanoglu, who is waiting at the far post to sweep home a simple finish.

Hart may be a little disappointed with his role in that goal. The pass was enticing and Hart felt that he needed to come for it, but having made that decision he then needs to reach the ball and he didn't manage to do that.

SHOT! England win another free kick from a similar position to the first, and again Kane lines it up. This one is a long way from troubling the goal, though, swerving high and wide of the target. He'll need to do better than that if he is to get free kick duties when Rooney and co come back into the team!

Turkey have enjoyed 58% of possession in this match so far, which isn't what the England fans would have expected after the hosts had taking the lead so early on!

A break in the game as Sen goes down under an aerial challenge from Rose. England don't put the ball out, but the referee then stops play and the Turkey man can receive treatment.

SAVE! Good play from Wilshere as he ducks inside from the right flank and creates space for himself to shoot. He tries to drill one into the bottom corner at the near post, but Babacan is down to make the save.

England made a really bright and positive start to this match, but they are struggling to gain control of the game now. There have been signs that this side can be exciting, but Turkey have done a good job of halting their momentum.

Sterling does well to link up with Alli on his way inside, collecting the return pass just outside the area. He has space, but opts against going for goal himself and instead looks to thread Vardy through only for his pass to be cut out.

CLOSE! Almost a second for England as Wilshere swings a corner into the middle that Dier attacks well at the near post. He flicks his header towards goal, but it just goes the wrong side of the near post and hits the side-netting.

SAVE! Kane looks to double his personal tally for the day as he goes from goal, but Babacan has his angles right and gets everything behind the ball to make a routine stop.

YELLOW CARD! Ozyakup becomes the first player in the book in this match for a trip on Sterling.

The resulting free kick comes to nothing, and it is notable that Kane again took it, even when crossing the ball into the box. Rooney and Milner are usually above the Tottenham man in that pecking order, but even in their absence surely it is better to have your main striker in the area in such circumstances?

Wilshere is caught late, and it isn't the first time he has been on the end of a challenge today. Hodgson will be wincing every time he sees the Arsenal man go down.

Turkey certainly aren't playing this game as a friendly. They have put in a number of robust challenges already in this match and Hodgson may be a little concerned by that - the last thing he will want today is an injury to any of his players.

England have a chance to break down the left flank, with Vardy leading the charge. He tries to ping a cross into the middle, but Balta cuts it out cleverly. Moments later Kane has another pop at goal, but this one flies well off target.

It's not really happening for England on forward areas right now. Stones tries to shake things up by striding forward from defence and knocking the ball back, but the subsequent cross goes straight out for a goal kick.

CHANCE! Half a chance for Turkey as Calhanoglu whips a fine free kick into the middle that Topal rises to meet. He can't steer his header on target, however, nodding the effort high and wide.

There will be one minute of added time at the end of this first half.

Vardy has one final crack at goal in this half as England break forward quickly. Alli gives the ball back to the Leicester man, but he fires it well off target.

We're all square at the interval, then, after an interesting half that saw both teams in the ascendency. England have created the better of the chances, but Turkey probably warrant being level at the halfway stage of the tie and this warm-up match is still very much up for grabs in the coming 45 minutes.

It took England less than three minutes to break the deadlock at the Etihad, with Kane notching his 32nd goal of the season for club and country. There was an element of luck about the goal as Kane was offside when he collected Alli's pass, but the flag did not go up and the Tottenham man finished with aplomb to get the hosts off to a perfect start.

Turkey responded really well to that setback, though, and were level a little over 10 minutes later when Hakan Calhanoglu swept home a simple finish at the back post. Sen provided the assist by beating Hart to the ball and clipping a pass over the diving keeper for Calhanoglu to net the equaliser. There were defensive errors in the build-up for England, which appears to be the weakness in this side at the moment.

Turkey had come close to equalising less than two minutes after falling behind, but they were denied by a fine block from Walker as he slid in to keep out Tufan's effort. The visitors got in down the right flank before cutting a pass inside and leaving Tufan with a glorious chance. His finish looked bound for the bottom corner too, but Walker made the block.

Turkey have also had sights of goals through Tosun and Tofal, but it is England who have had the majority of the shots on goal. Kane has certainly not been shot shy, while Wilshere and Dier have also threatened the Turkey goal. They have struggled to create really clear chances, though, since a bright start that saw them make two openings in the first three minutes.

KICKOFF: Turkey get us back underway for this second half, with no changes for either side at the break.

SAVE! It is another bright start to the half for England as Vardy attacks down the left flank. His pass into the middle is cut out but still falls kindly for Alli, whose effort deflects off a couple of players and ends up straight into the arms of the keeper.

Turkey have certainly shown that they are no pushovers so far in this match, and I suspect some may view them as dark horses to go quite far at Euro 2016, particularly considering they are missing three of their best players today.

Good move from England as the Tottenham contingent connect again. Dier finds Walker, who plays a one-two with Alli to get in behind the defence. However, Walker has just drifted offside and the linesman's flag is raised.

Kane has the ball in the back of the net again, but this time the flag is raised - correctly again. Dier pass wasn't intended for Kane, but it went all the way through.

CLOSE! Good chance for Turkey as Calhanoglu swings a corner into the middle that Tosun meets with a firm header that goes just past the post and hits the stanchion behind the goal.

CLOSE! Tosun is close to putting Turkey in front again! The big striker collects the ball into feet on the edge of the box and hits it on the turn, but his shot flashes just past the post. Joe Hart wasn't getting there!

CHANCE! England win another free kick in a good crossing position and again Kane comes out to take it. His delivery is better this time and Stones rises to meet it, but he can't get a clean head on it and a half-chance goes begging.

YELLOW CARD! Wilshere goes into the book for a foul to prevent Turkey from breaking.

England have switched to a 4-4-2 diamond now rather than the 4-3-3, which sees Vardy move more central alongside Kane. Hodgson said that he wanted to trial both systems, and he is doing exactly that now.

England are struggling to get into any real rhythm at the moment, and it is Turkey who have looked most like scoring in this second half so far. Hodgson will no doubt be considering subs soon.

CHANCE! Another chance for the visitors here as Balta finds space from a corner to flick a header across goal. It is hooked back into a dangerous area at the far post before Rose nervously puts it behind.

It does indeed look like changes are incoming, with Henderson getting ready to be introduced now. I'd guess it will be Wilshere making way.

ENGLAND SUB: There is the change, and it is Wilshere who makes way to be replaced by Jordan Henderson.

Just over 20 minutes remain in this match now, and it must be said that England haven't exactly shown many signs that will have the rest of Europe running scared here.

TURKEY SUBS: A double change for the visitors as Mahmut Tekdemir and Ismail Koybasi replace Ozyakup and Erkin.

England miss a glorious chance to move back in front as Kane fails to convert from the spot! Topal's mistake allows Vardy to race through on goal, and in his attempts to get back the Turkey captain bundles the striker over inside the area. The referee points to the spot and Kane takes on the duties, but he powers his effort wide via the post.

ENGLAND SUB: Another change for England as Sterling makes way to be replaced by Danny Drinkwater.

Less than 15 minutes remaining in this game now, and still we're level. England may feel that they should be ahead after that penalty miss, but in truth a draw is probably a fair result up to this stage.

TURKEY SUB: Another change for the visitors as Calhanoglu is replaced by Olcay Sahan.

...and he is the first to mis the target altogether since Peter Crouch 10 years ago.

England are back in front, and it is three in a row for Jamie Vardy! It is a soft goal from Turkey's point of view as Cahill wins a header from a corner and nods it towards the bottom corner. Ismail could clear it off the line, but he and Babacan get in each other's way and the ball spills loose. Vardy is alive to the opportunity and fires home from close range, with the ball going in off the keeper's head.

The result looks like going the way of England, then, but there are still plenty of things that need working on in training with England. It hasn't been their best performance.

TURKEY SUB: Another change from the visitors sees Tufan replaced by Mevlut Erdinc.

SAVE! Tosun tries to pull off a spectacular equaliser with an overhead kick from outside of the box, but it lacks the power to really trouble Hart.

There will be three minutes of added time at the end of this match.

CHANCE! A late chance for England to put this game to bed once and for all as Vardy looks to race on to a ball over the top. He holds off one defender and slides a pass to Kane, but the Tottenham man slips when shooting and sends his effort wide.

CHANCE! Brilliant save from Hart to keep England ahead in the last minute! Olcay volleys one towards goal at the back post, but Hart gets down when going the wrong way to get a big hand to the ball!

England hang on for the victory to end Turkey's 13-match unbeaten streak, then, but they needed a fine save from Hart to do so. It is Kane and Vardy who will steal the headlines, as they have done so often this season, as they got the goals to hand England the win in their first Euro 2016 warm-up game, but it was far from plain sailing for Hodgson side. Turkey levelled things up after Kane's early opener and matched England for long spell, but ultimately the Three Lions will feel that they are worthy of the victory having also missed a penalty.

That is all we have time for this evening! Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's Euro 2016 warm-up match as England hold off a spirited challenge from Turkey to win 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium courtesy of goals from Kane and Vardy. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too. From me, though, it is goodbye for now!