Vassell on course for Portugal

Sven-Goran Eriksson has revealed his confidence that Darius Vassell will prove his fitness for the Euro 2004 finals later this week.

Vassell was put through light sessions with physio Gary Lewin yesterday and today due to a nagging hamstring problem which ruled him out of Aston Villa’s last Premiership game of the season.

However, Eriksson is hopeful that the striker will be able to rejoin the rest of the squad for a full session on Thursday at their pre-tournament training camp in Sardinia.

Unless the striker then suffers a relapse or another player has another injury problem, that would mean Jermain Defoe did not get promoted from his stand-by role.

Eriksson revealed: “Vassell is going to make one more session with the physio on Wednesday and then he should be ready to train on Thursday.

“As our situation is today, we don’t have any big problems. I think that Vassell will make it, but we have three weeks and two games to get through yet.”

While David Beckham admitted to having a “small ankle injury“, the England captain does not expect it to be a major problem.

He is expected to rejoin the rest of the squad in training on Thursday, having been given extra time for recuperation until then, along with four United players and Owen Hargreaves.

The remaining 17 players were put through their paces today before relaxing, even if three of them rather unwisely took part in a karting session without wearing helmets.

Keeper David James was ahead of Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney until the final corner, when he hit the safety tyres and allowed the Liverpool striker through.

Eriksson is nevertheless relaxed about his team’s preparations for the tournament, believing they are in much better shape now than they were ahead of the 2002 World Cup.

“If you compare now with how it was before the World Cup, this time it’s much better. Saying that, you know how football is and things can happen,” he said.

“But today we don’t have any major problems. Most of the players got one week off before we started this preparation, which they didn’t have before the World Cup.

“I think that has, mentally and physically, done them very good. That’s why I don’t want Beckham, Hargreaves and the Manchester United players to start training again too early.

“I feel much better as, just days before we met up for the World Cup, we had Gary Neville and Steven Gerrard ruled out. That gives you a knock.

“This time, we knew for a long time that Rio Ferdinand, Jonathan Woodgate and Gareth Southgate couldn’t play. So I’m more confident today than I was two years ago.”

He has still reminded his players not to become embroiled in any off-pitch controversy during this week away with their families before next week’s mini-tournament in Manchester.

However, he moved to dismiss reports that Kieron Dyer was on an effective final warning as the Swede was supposedly monitoring his behaviour.

“I have had Dyer in the squad many times so I don’t know where that has come from. I have no problems with him,” he stressed.

“I have told all 24 players that we are here to prepare for Euro 2004, not on a complete holiday, with nightclubs and things like that.”