Shawcross turns nose up at Costa’s hardman status

“Chelsea are not playing well at all this year and all parts of the team are being criticised”, Del Bosque said on Thursday. “We don’t want him to change how he is”.

Asked to assess Cunningham against a fellow English winger in Steve McManaman, whom del Bosque coached as Real Madrid manager, he said: “Comparing them is impossible”.

The biggest decision facing Del Bosque is the identity of his team’s centre forward, because Chelsea striker Diego Costa has made a wretched start to his global career since being persuaded to switch allegiances from his native Brazil.

Spain also announced they will play a friendly against Romania on March 27.

England meanwhile will travel to their friendly game in Alicante on Friday night without regular players such as James Milner, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain and Daniel Sturridge, all of whom miss the trip through injuries of one kind or another. “I was pleased he was concentrating on me and just delighted to keep him quiet because he’s a fantastic player”.

That means Joe Hart in goal; Nathaniel Clyne, who has adapted well at Liverpool and looks ready to make the right-back slot his own; and Kieran Gibbs, whose experience gets him the nod over Ryan Bertrand at left-back.

As the older guard struggles, with Rooney in particular scratching for form at Manchester United, younger counterparts will be given a chance to prove themselves able deputies or even supplant senior colleagues.

Costa has gained a reputation as something of a wind-up merchant thanks to his on-field antics in the Premier League. “He is here because we believe in him”. But Costa has lost the magic touch that made him such a feared finisher and must concentrate more on football than fist-ball. La Roja will face a stern test against Roy Hodgson’s vibrant England side, but the Spaniards expect to beat any team they face with the quality they possess.

“I wouldn’t dream of suggesting he’s going to try underhand methods”, Hodgson said.

These two teams have not met competitively since 1996, when England won 4-2 on penalties in the European Championships.

Now Costa must do the same because all he is achieving at the moment is making people believe he isn’t as good as they thought he was. “He thrives on that and that gets his team-mates going as well”.