Tottenham Hotspur defender Michael Dawson trained with his England team-mates for the first time after being called up to replace injured captain Rio Ferdinand. The Manchester United defender said he feels ‘cursed’ after suffering ligament damage to his knee which rules him out of the tournament. After missing a large chunk of the last campaign for his club through a back injury, it completes a miserable 2009/10 season for the 31 year-old centre back.

 

Dawson himself was just getting ready to book a holiday after being dropped from the final 23-man squad but jumped on a plane to rejoin Fabio Capello’s men. Instead of looking to sun himself on a beach, he has gone straight into the reckoning for a starting berth alongside John Terry at the centre of England’s defence against the USA with fellow defenders Ledley King and Matthew Upson both struggling for fitness.

Goalkeeper David James and Capello’s main pre-squad naming worry Gareth Barry were both able to train and the Italian will hope to have as many players to choose from when he looks at the opener next Saturday.

Frank Lampard has insisted that England’s talisman Wayne Rooney will not repeat his sending off of four years ago despite mutterings from opponents that winding up the Manchester United front man is a main priority. The 24 year-old Rooney is a much more mature player than in Germany 2006 and Lampard said ‘I don’t think there is any issue about trying to wind him up’.

Previous World Cup tournaments have been blighted with red cards but Lampard does not think they will fall foul of the officials this time around. ‘Discipline is important at any level of football’ said the Chelsea player, ‘The manager has always spoken about making sure you don’t lose your head’.