Dele Alli to keep England place against Sweden

Gareth Southgate has confirmed Jamie Vardy is England’s only injury doubt for Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against Sweden and dropped a clear hint that Dele Alli will keep his place in the starting line-up.

Vardy trained away from the rest of the 23-man squad in England’s final session at their Repino training base before flying here to Samara as they aim to reach their first tournament semi-final for 22 years.

The Leicester City striker is recovering from a groin problem sustained when coming on as a substitute in Tuesday’s last-16 win over Colombia but is unlikely to start in any case with Southgate believed to be keen on naming as close to the same team as possible.

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That would mean Dele retaining his place despite a subdued performance in Moscow. There were calls for Marcus Rashford to replace Dele but Southgate appeared to suggest the Tottenham midfielder will feature, while also downplaying concerns Danny Rose may be required to deputise for Ashley Young due to an ankle complaint.

“We just need to check with Vardy again in the morning,” he said. “He completed what we hoped he would [on Friday] but slightly separate to the team. We will just check if there is any reaction to that. Everybody else trained.

“In terms of Dele, I thought his performance against Tunisia was as good as he’s had since I’ve been England manager. He is at his best when he is making those forward runs and really threatening opponents from midfield.

“The other night [against Colombia], the game was a little bit different - he did a really diligent job without the ball for us and I think maybe we need to encourage him a little bit more to get into those areas where I think his strengths lie and where he can have the biggest impact on the game.

“That’s something we’ve got to think about tactically. But he did a fantastic job for the team and sometimes in those matches where you are playing against top opposition, it is a balance of doing both. We had good controlled possession but we do want to create more clear chances and I think we can.

“That will be tough tomorrow because I think we will have more possession but Sweden have proved they get results with 30 per cent possession. Possession doesn’t mean you win games. It is about creating good chances and being able to break down a defence that will be packed and Dele is a player who gives us a different option in doing that.”

Southgate’s popularity has grown exponentially during the tournament to the extent he is now the subject of an England fans song set to the tune of Atomic Kitten’s ‘Whole Again’ - featuring the questionable lyrics ‘Southgate you’re the one, you still turn me on, football’s coming home again’.

“Well, [it is] not as questionable as most of the lyrics of songs that have been sung about me in the past, so no problem with that!”, he said in response. “Long may that continue. The rest of it, look, it is dangerous territory. I’ve been in football for 30-odd years. You are never as good as people say in times when things are going well and you are never as poor as people say when things are going badly.

“I am very balanced about that.I’m just focused on preparing the team as well as I can for what is a really exciting challenge. If we can continue to excite everybody at home and make them proud as the players have up to now then that’s a really rewarding thing for us all.

“Do I like the song? They wouldn’t be me first choice band but it is nice to recognised by the supporters.”