By AVI CREDITOR
Spain, Italy and England all figure to qualify for the 2012 European Championship without a problem, but the traditional powers will all have to adjust to some major roster changes for the upcoming stretch of qualifiers.
Defending European and World Cup champion Spain's roster has been altered the most. With Cesc Fabregas and Xavi already ruled out for the games against Scotland and Lithuania, star striker Fernando Torres became the latest to pull out of the matches after injuring his groin in Liverpool's shock loss to Blackpool over the weekend.
Jesus Navas and Pedro also pulled out of the squad with injuries, leading coach Vicente del Bosque to call in four national-team first-timers: Valencia's Aritz Aduriz and Pablo Hernandez and Villarreal's Borja Valero and Bruno Soriano.
Italy, meanwhile, has also been hit hard by the injury bug. Striker Alberto Gilardino and fullback Luca Antonelli will miss the Azzurri's qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Serbia with their respective ailments.
Manager Cesare Prandelli has yet to call up their replacements, but might be forced to make a tactical adjustment as well, considering he's also due to be without the injured Mario Balotelli and Riccardo Montolivo.
Finally, England manager Fabio Capello has called in the uncapped Kevin Davies to help augment his striker selection for the Three Lions' match against currently unbeaten Montenegro.
With injuries to Jermain Defoe, Bobby Zamora and Gabriel Agbonlahor, and Wayne Rooney available but still on the mend with an ankle knock, Davies earned the call with his strong start to the Premier League campaign with Bolton.
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Do you see any of these three sides slipping up in their qualifiers this week? Which team do you think will be affected the most by the roster changes?
Share your thoughts below.