Slovakia is England's stiffest test... Marcus Rashford is a kid but he can handle the pressure of this big game

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Monday's World Cup qualifier against Slovakia is the most pressurised game for England since Iceland at Euro 2016.

The two matches against Scotland were great occasions, with the passion and atmosphere created by the fans, but in terms of football, there is so much at stake this time. 

England are ahead of Slovakia in Group F by two points and defeat would leave Gareth Southgate's men with concerns about making it to Russia.

England starlet Marcus Rashford took his form at club level with him on international duty

Rashford has enjoyed a fine start this season with Manchester United and he was lively in Malta

This match is going to have a real edge and you can't say that about every international fixture.

My biggest disappointment with England is that I haven't seen any progression since the Euros in terms of breaking teams down.

Though England won 4-0 in Malta on Friday, they were flattered by three late goals. Before then, we lacked the timing and movement from wide positions to get behind two banks of defenders.

We have players who can exploit space but not that gifted individual in midfield who can drop a shoulder and go past three defenders. So we need attacking players who stay wide and not rely on our full-backs to provide that width.

Slovakia will provide a real edge to the clash at Wembley on Monday and Rashford is a threat

Harry Kane will lead the line for England and he can benefit from Rashford being played wide

I believe Marcus Rashford should be a certainty to start against Slovakia, and I think he will. He's still only 19 but it's not a gamble, you know what you are going to get from the kid. He'll end up as a fine centre-forward one day but right now he's at his most dangerous wide, with the pace and power to stretch defenders.

I'm impressed by his starting position, sideways on so he is ready to face defenders when he receives the ball rather than playing with his back to goal. And he can still arrive in the box coming from a deeper and wider position.

It would be a test for him if he had to play France or Germany because part of his job would be to track their full-backs. 

But playing against Slovakia at Wembley he's going to be an asset even if the visitors won't be as defensively minded compared with Euro 2016, when they were happy to draw 0-0 with England in a group game.

Slovakia have some well-known names like Napoli's Marek Hamsik and former Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel and are no pushovers. But they won't fancy facing Rashford. 

Napoli's Marek Hamsik will provide England with plenty of questions with his creativity 

Gareth Southgate will have to decide whether to start with Rashford or Raheem Sterling

At Euro 2016, the Manchester United youngster was in the squad but given very little game time — just 17 minutes as a substitute against Wales and four versus Iceland. 

He's gained experience in the Premier League and Europe since then and made a difference when he came off the bench in Malta at a time when England were displaying all their old failings.

I also think Rashford's presence will help Dele Alli. The 21-year-old didn't have his best game in Malta, partly because Raheem Sterling and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain kept coming inside and Alli found it hard to find space.

Credit to him then that he still had an impact on the game. He got into the penalty area and when he couldn't get his own shot away, he had the vision to see Harry Kane's little movement and the coolness to find him with a pass for the important opening goal.

Southgate will expect a more open game against Slovakia with top spot on the line

At Wembley, I expect Alli to get into the box eight, nine, 10 times. If Rashford stays wide, he will create space for the Spurs man. They will be helped if Slovakia also show a little ambition because they have that little carrot of knowing a victory would put them top of the table with qualification in their own hands.

In goal, some were surprised to see Gareth Southgate stay loyal to Joe Hart in Malta. I wasn't, because Hart deserved that loyalty from the manager, particularly after his display in securing a 0-0 draw in Slovenia earlier in the group.

I covered Hart's last Premier League game for West Ham when they were beaten 3-0 by Newcastle. Despite the result, he made two or three outstanding saves and not every goal conceded at club level is the goalkeeper's fault.

Hart is under pressure for his England jersey from Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford and others and I think that is useful for Gareth because he knows he's being pushed for the first time.

Joe Hart is ready to fight for his England place despite West Ham's poor start to the season

Jordan Henderson wore the captain's armband against Malta and did well. Gareth Southgate has tried to downplay the issue and, while I agree with that in general, I feel he should pick a skipper in advance of the World Cup.

The best teams have several leaders and Gary Cahill and Henderson both come into that category. But international teams differ from the club game when it comes to the captaincy and there is an argument for having the player with the biggest status step forward to shake hands, swap pennants and meet the referee before kick-off. It adds to the aura of the England team.

Alan Shearer was my captain for the 1998 World Cup in France, which didn't reduce the importance of Tony Adams or Paul Ince or Teddy Sheringham as leaders in the dressing room or on the pitch.

So if Harry Kane is to step forward with the armband for the opening game of the 2018 World Cup, I wouldn't be disappointed.

Jordan Henderson skippered the side but other nations have more creativity in the centre

Kane created space for himself before firing England into the lead against Malta on Friday

What made this transfer window stand out were the number of players you expected to move but didn't: Philippe Coutinho, Alexis Sanchez, Virgil van Dijk, Jonny Evans and Diego Costa among them.

It appears the balance of power has shifted from the star players, and their agents, to the clubs and I think it's a good thing for the game and the industry.

Agents want people to move since they get paid ridiculous sums of money when transfers happen, and that motivation is often a trigger for the biggest deals, quite apart from the player's own ambition. And when an agent receives his cut, the money invariably goes out of the game.

But in this window clubs were determined not to be manipulated. I confess I thought all those players in the end would be sold because that's what has happened in the past, but not this time.

Strangely enough, the incredible sums of money in the game and the £200million Neymar deal, which had a knock-on effect on the market, may help clubs hold on to players in the long term.

Chelsea striker Diego Costa is still in Brazil and spent the weekend playing beach football

Costa has been encouraged by Atletico Madrid to make peace with his current employers

When clubs sign players for huge sums, they are going to lock them into long-term deals, five or six years. They wouldn't spend £60m and then offer a three-year deal which would leave them vulnerable after a season.

Players are happy to sign long-term deals on big money for the security — one contract can set them up for life. But it also hands clubs power; they are no longer under pressure to sell quickly because the contract is running down.

Top players have had it both ways for a long time, the guarantee of big wages but the feeling they can always get out of a contract if they want. It's not so bad for clubs to wrest back some control.

The clubs who did their transfer business early look the shrewdest, most notably Manchester United and Manchester City, though they ended up frustrated over Sanchez and Evans.

On deadline day, the surprise was Fernando Llorente going to Spurs from Swansea. His arrival will give Mauricio Pochettino the option of occasionally resting Harry Kane. Spurs may have to play a different way then, with more crosses, and earlier.

Many big-money deals failed to materialise, leaving their subjects in an awkward situation

Virgil van Dijk saw his dream move to Liverpool blocked after the Reds bungled the deal

Another surprise is Diego Costa staying a Chelsea player, although he's AWOL in Brazil.

It's a tough one for the club and Antonio Conte. I know Sir Alex Ferguson flew to France once to win round Eric Cantona but this is different. Conte could waste a lot of time and energy trying to win over Costa if his head was not for turning.

Costa is under contract and should be the one who comes back to Chelsea to show he wants to be part of the squad.

I'm not certain that will happen and maybe Conte isn't too bothered about that. He's already solved the problem on the pitch by signing Alvaro Morata. I can't see Morata and Costa playing in the same side and Costa might be a problem if he's around the camp and not playing. Morata looks a good player so I think the handover has already happened.

In an ideal world, transfers should now only be allowed before the season starts. The football was almost overshadowed by the gossip during the window and that's wrong.

Philippe Coutinho is still at Liverpool after three bids from Barcelona were rejected by the Reds