Despite scans revealing Cherry-Evans had suffered only a minor hip muscle tear, the Australian five-eighth is almost certain to miss the Kangaroos' do-or-die clash against England on Sunday. There are concerns Cherry-Evans may have played his last game of the tournament with scans showing cartilage damage to his hip. However, Kangaroos officials remain hopeful the Manly pivot will return to the squad to play Samoa next week. Cherry-Evans will have further tests in Melbourne on Monday to determine the full extent of the damage after he was forced from the field minutes before half time in Australia's disappointing 30-12 loss to New Zealand. He had twisted awkwardly while running back into a defensive position.

Twelve months after struggling to keep his place at NRL level, Ben Hunt is expected to partner Cooper Cronk in the halves if Cherry-Evans fails to recover in time.

Klemmer is also expected to play his first Test as coach Tim Sheens looks likely to add some much needed size to his forward pack. Sheens' worst fears were realised on Saturday when New Zealand's big men surged through the middle of his brittle forward pack. Klemmer and Aaron Woods are the lone front-rowers in the squad with back-rowers Sam Thaiday, Corey Parker and Josh Papalii forced to play in the middle of the field. Greg Inglis – who didn't return in the second half because of a virus – is expected to play on Sunday.

Roosters back-rower Boyd Cordner and South Sydney winger Alex Johnston will also come into contention for Test spots.

Thaiday predicted Sheens would wield the axe following the side's disappointing effort against the Kiwis after the Australians failed to score a second-half point as they struggled to adjust to not having Inglis and Cherry-Evans.

"It was a disappointing effort," Thaiday said. "We were very poor in defence. It was something we tried to work on all week.

"I've been in the situation where I've had the tap on the shoulder twice [from a coach]. One was when I was getting dropped and one was when I was getting the cap up. We've got some 'Emus' who will probably get a chance against England. If they impress there they'll continue on in the game against Samoa.

"There's probably going to be a couple more debutants. They probably sat there on the bench watching the game and they are just as hungry as ever."

Cronk – who bore the brunt of Australia's playmaking duties as Cherry-Evans and Inglis looked on – said his side needed to respond better to adversity.

"It wasn't strange," Cronk said of playing with the key duo. "These things happen. While you'd like to have your best team available you need to be resilient, strong minded and mentally tough enough to get past those obstacles. New Zealand played a high-tempo brand of football. I won't be using those injuries as an excuse. You represent Australia, you have the ability to play really well and ability to win football games."

Australia will face another monster forward pack in England – led by James Graham and the Burgess twins. A loss for either team would almost certainly end its Four-Nations finals aspirations. Thaiday said his big men needed to perform better.

"They are just getting bigger, stronger," Thaiday said of the opposition. "It's going to be another tough forward battle. As one of those forward leaders, I was pretty disappointed we lost that battle. That went a long way to losing the game."

The Kangaroos travelled to Melbourne on Sunday.