Slovakia’s central defender Martin Skrtel is set to overcome another injury scare to take his place in the starling line-up against New Zealand in their World Cup opener.

 

Having recovered from a broken metatarsal which threatened his participation in the finals, the Liverpool star suffered an ankle injury in a warm-up match against Costa Rica.

Early reports indicated it was set to rule Skrtel out of the group stages, if not the whole tournament, but these fears have eased with the news that it was merely a sprained ankle.

The Slovaks are making their debut in the World Cup after winning their qualifying group, finishing above Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland and Northern Ireland.