England manager Roy Hodgson has allayed fears about skipper Steven Gerrard being an injury doubt for England’s World Cup opener against Italy.
There had been rumors about the Liverpool captain carrying a groin injury, which he picked up during the team’s final warm up game against Honduras but the Hodgson has categorically denied his star midfielder carrying any sort of injury.
When asked by the journalists about Gerrard in a press conference, Hodgson said that he really doesn’t understand this one, adding that he doesn’t know what was wrong with his skipper.
He went on to add that he did some light training with the players who didn’t play any part in the game against Honduras worked with him and the others just did a warm session. He mentioned that it is his understanding that the other group did some extra work after the session and there is nothing wrong with Steven Gerrard and he doesn’t understand how this news came about.
Hodgson also gave a more or less positive report on the well being of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, who is recovering from a knee injury, as reported by the match previews on Betbright’s blog.
According to the England manager, the Arsenal winger is expected to be fit for England’s second group game against Uruguay. He said that the player has done some light training and he is expected to up his training regime once he can take more pressure on the knee.
But Hodgson will be hoping there is no more injury concerns for the team especially after ending up in such a difficult group.
And he expects a fully fit Steven Gerrard to lead the charge for the national team in what is definitely going to be his last tournament for The Three Lions as well as the likes of Frank Lampard and the Golden Generation of England.
