England's pursuit of points has led to Warrington winger Matty Ashton retaining his spot on the left.

And the more offensive style of Hull KR's Jez Litten has been preferred at hooker to Wigan's Brad O'Neill, who was recently crowned Super League Man of Steel and is among the interchanges along with club team-mate Zach Eckersley.

"It's that hard call knowing that you've got to have a tough chat with someone like Brad O'Neill, who's probably not doing anything wrong," McDermott said.

"It's more about, I guess, the best fit for gameplan. They all understand the concept of it being a squad effort. It's not just a team effort.

"We've got a specific task this weekend against PNG and I think it'll be a stiffer test than it was against France last week. And we find ourselves in a similar situation, because we don't just need to beat them, we need to beat them convincingly.

"Picking a team that's best suited to that is the main task. So yeah, they're not the easiest conversations to have, but they are when the player themselves has got a lot of humility - and Brad was great."

While Brisbane Broncos prop Ben Talty is yet to feature for England, late call-up Kallum Watkins is another on the interchange bench with Victor Radley and Jack Welsby dropping out.

Morgan Knowles, meanwhile, is set to appear for the first time in the tournament.

Knowles' physical presence was sorely missed in England's 30-12 defeat by Tonga on 17 October as he recovered from a calf issue.

The Dolphins forward's return to action comes at a busy time - as he and his wife have just welcomed their third child to their family.

"The baby was delivered yesterday [Wednesday]. I haven't spoke to Morgan yet, but he's probably got his hands full changing nappies," McDermott said.

"He's had a fair bit going on, but I'm really keen to get him in the team and looking forward to watching him play tomorrow.

"He'll be good and he's really keen to get back with the team and start playing. Everybody's pleased for Morgan and you know, we'll all go for it."