Rooney and Lampard passed fit for England to face France
Wayne Rooney overcame a knock in the game against Liverpool
Monday, 24, Mar 2008 03:16
Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard were both involved in a full training session with the England squad today ahead of Wednesday's friendly match against France.
There had been fears that the Manchester United striker and Chelsea midfielder would be unable to play a full part in Fabio Capello's second game in charge of England, having picked up knocks in Premiership games on Sunday.
Rooney appeared to injury his knee during United's 3-0 win against Liverpool at Old Trafford yesterday, but appears to have overcome it and is set to play a full role against France.
Lampard knocked his hip during Chelsea's 2-1 victory over London rivals Arsenal but was reported to have shown no signs of discomfort during England's training session at London Colney.
The news that the pair are fit to play in Wednesday's game will be welcomed by new coach Capello who had previously voiced concerns of the staging of Super Sunday, matches involving the top four Premiership clubs, the weekend before the England match.
"I'm not ecstatic, not happy about it," he said regarding the fixture arrangement.
All 23 members of Capello's squad managed to train at Arsenal's Hertfordshire training ground, including former England captain David Beckham who is line to win his 100th cap for his country.
Beckham managed to come through Capello's squad cut on Saturday, reducing the number of players from 30. Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ashley Young, Shaun Wright-Phillips, David Wheater and Jermain Defoe however were not so lucky.
A number of goalkeeping changes have been forced upon Capello in the lead up to the France game with Paul Robinson replacing the injured Scott Carson and Robert Green stepping in for Chris Kirkland.