LONDON (AP-Reuters) – England's convincing win over Israel was essentially a warm-up for tomorrow's much tougher European Championship qualifier against Russia.

With several first-choice players injured, England's reshuffled line-up overwhelmed a hesitant Israel side 3-0 on Saturday at Wembley. Coach Steve McClaren must now decide whether to stick with the same team as he tries to secure another valuable three points in the quest to reach next year's tournament.

Midfielders Frank Lampard and Owen Hargreaves have been ruled out of the match, an FA spokesman said yesterday. Lampard tore his thigh muscle in training with Chelsea last month and Hargreaves injured his thigh in training last week.

McClaren must decide whether to retain the relatively untested Gareth Barry in midfield and unglamorous Emile Heskey up front. Peter Crouch is no longer suspended.

Russia is coached by former Holland and South Korea manager Guus Hiddink and, like Group E leader Croatia, is a serious contender to beat England to one of the group's two qualification spots.

"We've got the first job done and now we have to quickly get our minds set on Russia because I'm sure that game will be tougher," England midfielder Steven Gerrard said. Gerrard confirmed he was fully match fit and ready to play despite nursing a broken toe. He took part in a full training sesion yesterday and reported no reaction to the injury. "It was a good result against Israel and there were a lot of positives to take from the game, but we're not getting carried away."

Gerrard was substituted midway through the second half when goals by Shaun Wright-Phillips, Michael Owen and Micah Richards had put England in control.

Gerrard's partnership with Barry in central midfield looked promising, although the pair were rarely tested defensively. Barry is expected to keep his place against Russia.

"It was really effective considering we'd only trained together twice before the game," Gerrard said. "We've been good friends off the pitch for a long time and I think that helped."

Heskey made his first England appearance in more than three years on Saturday, creating chances and making space with his willingness to hold up the ball.

It was his pass that set up Owen for his 49th-minute turn and shot from outside the area, so he could stay in the team ahead of Crouch, who is the more regular scorer. The rest of the team is likely to stay the same, with Wright-Phillips on the right wing in place of the injured David Beckham, who may not now get back in the team when fit.

England needs to beat second-place Russia, not just for the three points, but because it may struggle in next month's return match at Moscow, which is set to be played on an unfamiliar artificial surface.

Russia is also expecting a tougher match than on Saturday, when it beat Macedonia 3-0 to stay one point ahead of England, and two behind Croatia.

Hiddink, who guided South Korea to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup, is not so concerned that he is considering abandoning his attacking style.

"We're not going there just to defend," Hiddink said.

"If we sit back for 90 minutes, sooner or later they'll punish us. I see it as a high tempo game with both sides looking to score."

Russia will be without goalkeeper Vladimir Gabulov, who is suspended after being sent off for fouling Macedonia's Goran Maznov.

Russia played the last 20 minutes of that match with ten men, but Andrei Arshavin and Alexander Kerzhakov still added to Vasiliy Berezutskiy's earlier goal to secure a comfortable victory.