JACK WILSHERE is confident he will be operating at full tilt by the time England kick off their Euro 2016 campaign against Russia in less than three weeks’ time.

Wilshere made only his second start in the space of 12 months when he helped England claim a 2-1 win over Turkey on Sunday, and is set to remain in Roy Hodgson’s starting line-up for Friday’s friendly with Australia at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.

The Arsenal midfielder played just 141 minutes of Premier League football last season, but his importance to Hodgson’s plans was underlined by the England boss’ willingness to name an extended preliminary squad in order to allow him to prove his fitness along with team-mate Jordan Henderson.

Wilshere showed no ill effects from his 66-minute run out at the Etihad, but coming through a friendly with Turkey is hardly the same as being in peak condition for the pressure-cooker environment of the opening game of a tournament.

Some have claimed Wilshere’s chronic injury record means he should not be included in the final squad for France, but Hodgson is clearly keen to start with him, and the 24-year-old is confident he will not let his manager down.

“I think I can be 100 per cent for the first game,” said Wilshere, who started five of England’s Euro 2016 qualifiers. “That’s the aim, and I wouldn’t say I’m far off it now.

“I’ve had games for the under-21s, and I know it’s nowhere near this level, but you can still test yourself. You can train as much as you want, but you can’t get that fitness unless you play games.

“I am feeling better, and we’ve got two more games before it all starts. Hopefully, I will be 100 per cent.

“You always have days when you’re in the gym where you think you’re not going to get back, but the thing that kept me going was I know what it takes to get back and I always had time on my side. I was always confident.”

Wilshere freely admits the prize of a place at the European Championships helped inspire him to do everything possible to keep his recovery from a fractured fibula on track, with the midfielder finding himself in the somewhat unusual position of being a more integral part of the international picture than with his club side, Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger opted to keep him on the sidelines for most of the final month of the season, with his only start for the Gunners’ senior side coming in the final-day victory over Aston Villa.

Alex Iwobi and Mohamed Elneny leapfrogged him in the Arsenal pecking order, and are set to provide strong competition for a place in next season’s starting line-up, but Wilshere remains a key part of Hodgson’s plans with England.

Eric Dier’s emergence has transformed the make-up of the England midfield, but despite his lack of recent action, there is every chance Wilshere will start alongside the Tottenham holding player when Hodgson’s side kick off their European campaign in Marseille.

“I’ve worked with Roy and his staff for a number of years now, and they know what I bring,” said Wilshere. “I know what they want from me as well. I think we had to rebuild after the World Cup, and I was quite a big part of that. I repaid some of his faith in me, and I’m thankful for that.”

Hodgson is likely to experiment with his midfield make-up at the Stadium of Light, and the England boss is still toying with a number of different formations as he attempts to settle on his starting line-up to face Russia.

He started with a 4-1-2-3 formation against Turkey, but switched to a 4-4-2 with a diamond-shaped midfield as Jamie Vardy moved alongside Harry Kane for the final 20 minutes.

Wilshere was the main holding midfielder in a number of the qualifiers, but Dier’s elevation to the starting line-up has removed some of the need for him to sit deep, a shift that should play to his creative strengths.

“I’ve been playing out wide with Arsenal, which is not me,” he said. “I’m not a wide man, but Roy seems to have faith in me in the middle and I’m happy with that. I like to play anywhere in the middle.

“I played the holding role before, and I really enjoy that, and (on Sunday) I was a bit higher up the pitch and I enjoyed that.

“This is the first time I’ve really played in a higher position in this team since the World Cup, so it’s different. But I enjoyed it.

“You always have that assurance with Eric behind. He’s great at that, he breaks up the play and he keeps it simple.”