A meeting with Honduras in Miami on Saturday will allow England to make any final adjustments to their World Cup preparations. Both nations are heading to Brazil this summer and will want to travel south from Florida with momentum building behind their quest for global glory. England hit a bump in the road at the Sun Life Stadium on Wednesday, with an eventful contest against Ecuador posing a number of questions which head coach Roy Hodgson must endeavour to answer. A 2-2 draw was not the kind of result Hodgson was hoping for, even with a much-altered side, and an untimely injury to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and a red card for Raheem Sterling will have only served to add to the sense of frustration. Arsenal midfielder Oxlade-Chamberlain is now sweating on his involvement at the World Cup finals, with a knee problem set to keep him sidelined for up to three weeks. Sterling's dismissal will not affect his involvement heading forward, but he will be denied another opportunity to prove his worth ahead of an opening contest with Italy on June 14. With that game in the sweltering Amazon conditions of Manaus now just a week away, Hodgson knows he must settle on a preferred starting XI and a tactical approach which will serve England well among world football's elite. Taking one last look at his troops on Saturday should help to bring the final pieces of that jigsaw together, with it important to get game time for intended starters while also offering opportunities for those on the fringes of the fold to stake a claim for a more prominent role. The same applies to Honduras, with their preparations up to this point having been far from ideal. Since booking their tickets to Brazil, three defeats have been suffered in five friendly outings - including back-to-back losses against Turkey and Israel. They will, however, be hoping that the presence of Luis Suarez within their ranks proves to be a good omen. Not the Liverpool frontman leading Uruguay's charge this summer, but coach Luis Fernando Suarez - a 54-year-old Colombian with vast experience. He has successfully guided Honduras to a second successive World Cup appearance and will feel that bettering a one-point return from 2010 is a realistic target after being drawn in Group E alongside Switzerland, France and his former employers Ecuador. -------------- please log in to view this image England will be without Oxlade-Chamberlain after the Football Association confirmed that the youngster suffered medial knee ligament damage against Ecuador. Liverpool forward Sterling will also miss out through suspension, but Everton's Ross Barkley will be hoping to figure again having caught the eye in midweek but failed to earn the level of praise many were expecting from Hodgson. Wayne Rooney is another who will be determined to silence a few doubters, having netted his 39th international goal on Wednesday, while skipper Steven Gerrard, goalkeeper Joe Hart, full-backs Glen Johnson and Leighton Baines and defenders Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill will all be looking to get more minutes under their belt. ------------ please log in to view this image Rangers midfielder Arnold Peralta has seen injury dash his World Cup dreams, with a thigh problem ruling him out of Suarez's plans. There are, however, a number of faces familiar to British football supporters ready to line-up against England. Hull City defender Maynor Figueroa, Celtic full-back Emilio Izaguirre, Stoke City midfielder Wilson Palacios and Wigan Athletic winger Roger Espinoza will all be hoping to play some part, while goalkeeper Luis Lopez is the only member of the squad still waiting on his senior debut. ---------------- Good God its boring isnt it? Roll on Thursday
Just in case you're being serious, don't actually live in Oslo But life is pretty ok. How's the leg holding up fella? Xxx
I know you dont you numpty! Good, get out there tonight and get some beers and maybe other things down your neck. Im babysitting, Mrs (am married) on a girly night. I went out last Sat night so musnt grumble Leg okayish, ankle been hurting to **** for some reason past couple of days. Was the yr anniversary of it last Tues on 3rd June. Thought it would be better than it is by now, but hey ho, such is life Football still seems a million miles away Thanks for asking XXX
Sorry man, need **** explaining to me Not literally, please Gerrez Will be watching football with the lads tonight, but got a date tomorrow! Bit of a weird one, we're deciding who buys the drinks over a penalty shootout. My kinda girl Though seeing as we're both English it might go on for eternity Not feeling better at all? A years a bloody long time, can you even lightly jog on it yet? You're welcome my little cutie pie xxx
Can sort of jog, for a few steps hobbling. When I first started walking again I was walking like a zombie and now can walk relatively normally, so hoping the same happens with running Still swelled and still a bit grossed out seeing the screws poking the skin out. Restricted movement in knee and ankle so dont know. If im lucky to play again dont know how it would be And yes a year is a long time! ****ed it good and proper, they did say I had at the time tbf Anyway, your date sounds good. How you going to do a pen shootout? Take a ball to the pub? I know its been said but enjoy being young and single and just have some fun. When I were your age (not being patronising) I split with girls and got bogged down with it sometimes before thinking **** it and just went and had fun. But looking back now it annoys me I got bogged down sometimes, get out there and have as much fun as you can XX
Thats what everyone says when I refer to it like that. But no, it isnt Early morning shift tom 5 am on the dot for the past fortnight
Fingers crossed for you mate, couldn't imagine how difficult life would be to struggle to walk. Still, it will only get stronger, this time next year you'll be flying in to crunching tackles. You'll have to show us some pics sometime! Sounds Frankensteinish Na we'll be going down to the hoe (little riverside where I live) and we'll have a little kick about, sounds like she's better than me from what she's saying so not really looking forward to it! Enjoying it as much as I can, just had a good thing with my ex bird, weren't too many downs with her but overall think we were a bit too emotionally unstable for each other Just a case of getting out there. I just prefer being in relationships for some reason Xxx
When I did it my daughter was only 3 months old, been a very busy year...............for my wife I couldnt get off the sette for 4 months Biggest thing with me is not being able to play, makes me miserable as **** at times. Im lucky though as the bone tumour (that weakend the tib and fib bones over the years) was benign It was Frankensteinish, when I first saw the bare skin again it was horrific! Got a big red line going from knee to ankle but I quite like that, makes me look hard I say its still swelled but its nowhere near the size it was. Now its just bigger than my other leg Anyway, your date sounds good mate. Women are never better at footie than blokes though so dont worry Yeah I had good relationships as well, but you find better eventually. Just enjoy the ride. Now im settled (and my Mrs is brilliant) I do wonder if I ****ed about enough when younger, and I did **** about quite a bit! Just enjoy, you'll never get these days back mate XXXX
I'd hope to see a starting 11 that is going to play in the game v Italy, with Rooney keeping Sterling's place warm as the only exception ------------Hart Johnson Cahill Jag Baines ----Gerrard Henderson Lallana Barkley Rooney -------Sturridge Get the team playing together one final time before we start for real and give youth a chance.
England starting XI: Hart, Johnson, Baines, Gerrard, Cahill, Jagielka, Henderson, Rooney, Lallana, Sturridge, Welbeck. Welbeck instead of Barkley from my team... but other than that as to be expected really
Yeah I suppose, you're risking injury but yeah get them gelling in match conditions Weak as **** opponenets though, couldve done with playing a better team I reckon
My mrs (not married) made out she was good at footy and that she was a Arsenal fan. The only players she could name were Henry and Ljungberg. She also filled in when we were a player short once too, she was proper ****e
