Neville boost for England
Gary Neville was back in full training with his England team-mates for the first time in a fortnight when they began preparations today for the World Cup quarter-final clash against Portugal at the weekend.
The Manchester United defender has been sidelined with a calf injury and was unavailable for the final group match with Sweden.
He then suffered a reaction when he attempted to make a comeback in training ahead of the second-round meeting with Ecuador.
The right-back trained on his own yesterday supervised by England physio Gary Lewin and today took a full part in England’s first session after being given the best part of two days off by Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Eriksson would love to have his first choice right-back available again after an injury-hit build-up to the finals.
He picked up a hamstring injury against Hungary at Old Trafford and missed the final friendly international with Jamaica before collecting his 80th cap in the World Cup opener against Paraguay.
Neville looked ring-rusty in that game and his match sharpness would be a concern if Eriksson decided to risk him against the Portuguese.
But Eriksson has great faith in his abilities and if he is fit enough it would allow Owen Hargreaves to revert to his preferred holding midfield role.
Eriksson has no other injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s game and there is a determination in the camp to make amends for the penalty shoot-out exit at the hands of Portugal in Euro 2004.
