Stick or twist? Rashford and Guehi are Tuchel's big dilemmas

"I think Konsa and Guehi have better attributes in terms of one-against-one situations than John Stones and there will be times in games when they will be isolated one-against-one against players of the highest class."

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England head coach Thomas Tuchel trusts the experience and class of 32-year-old John Stones

Paul Robinson, the former England goalkeeper who is BBC Radio 5 Live's analyst at their games, believes Tuchel will make changes – but only because he can manage a strong squad, not because of any defensive concerns.

He said: "The defence looked nervous at times but there is context. This is the first game of a major tournament and Croatia are ranked 11th in the world. They have troubled England before and they have medals from reaching the final and semi-final in the past two World Cups.

"You can pick holes in it tactically at the back, but the pleasing thing for Thomas Tuchel was that it wasn't individual errors. It was a collective unit. He can work on that in training.

"I think there are a lot of people who are quick to criticise when actually you should look at the positives. This was an England team that played to their strengths for the first time in a long time, instead of defending their weaknesses. I liked it."

Robinson added: "Six months ago it was Marc Guehi and one other, but John Stones has got the trust of the manager. He is one of his leaders on the pitch.

"It is a very difficult decision but three into two doesn't go and I don't have an issue with who Tuchel picks. He had all three fit and this was obviously his favourite pair against Croatia."

Robinson added: "I didn't have any serious concerns about what I saw defensively. I think he will change the team but not for performance reasons.

"If England get to the World Cup final, it's eight games in 32 days and he has got trust in his squad. It doesn't matter [about] reputation, name, who you play for... he trusts every single one of his players."

Should Rashford edge out Gordon in attack?

Rashford made a powerful case for inclusion from the start against Ghana with a lively 18-minute cameo against Croatia as a replacement for Gordon, who had a quiet day in Dallas.

The pair fought for a place on England's left flank before the tournament started, with Rashford excelling in the pre-World Cup friendly win against New Zealand before Gordon confirmed his place with his contribution to the 3-0 triumph against Costa Rica, which included scoring a penalty.

The sub-plot to this World Cup between the two has taken place in Catalonia, where Rashford enjoyed a loan spell at Barcelona during the domestic season just gone. While he is still waiting to see if they will negotiate with Manchester United to keep him, Barcelona paid £69.3m to take Gordon from Newcastle United.

Gordon, however, has been short on match action after missing games towards the end of last season as Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe left him out, planning for the future after accepting he was leaving. He was bottom of the BBC Sport player ratings for the Croatia game with 5.54 out of 10.

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Marcus Rashford, who scored as a substitute for England against Croatia, is competing with Anthony Gordon for a place on the left flank

Sutton said: "It's going to be a squad game at the World Cup. We could even have a debate about the other flank, where Noni Madueke started, with Tuchel managing Bukayo Saka's minutes.

"On the left, though, I'd go for Rashford. I think Gordon's form suffered towards the end of the season. He didn't play much for Newcastle and he just doesn't seem quite up to speed.

"This is not to say he won't have a big part to play as the tournament goes on, but Rashford took his goal well and looked good. It's close, but at the moment I'd go for Rashford. I think he deserves an opportunity."