“I think the age of a player doesn’t come to play,” he said at a press conference. “Ronaldo doesn’t work as a 39-year-old player. He doesn’t play certainly as a 39-year-old player. I think we are assessing every player and how they feel. Cristiano has been working really well in this camp. I think the difficulty of playing two games away from home is more how can you prepare between the two games. How can you recover with the players?”

He added: “But I have no doubt that Cristiano after 60 minutes can be involved in the second game. I don’t know if he can start or if he can finish the game. But he can certainly be involved as he showed in the last camp.”

The Portugal captain has scored in three consecutive matches to guide his team to the top of their Nations League group with nine points. His goal against Poland took his tally for the national team up to 133.

The iconic forward may be named among the substitutes initially this week but is expected to come on against Steve Clarke’s side – just as he did before scoring a late winner when the two teams met last month.