Neville misses England training

Gary Neville was again absent from England’s final training session before tomorrow’s World Cup group clash against Sweden in Cologne.

The Manchester United full-back is still not considered fit enough to return to training after sustaining a calf injury during the build-up to last Thursday’s Trinidad and Tobago match in Nuremberg.

The 31-year-old could only look on from the dug-out as England were put through their paces by Sven-Goran Eriksson and his coaching staff.

Eriksson indicated at the weekend that Neville could be available to face England’s second-round opponents – either Germany or Ecuador.

All the cameras were trained on Wayne Rooney, who will make his first start of the World Cup since recovering from a broken metatarsal.

Rooney played 32 minutes of the 2-0 win against Trinidad but is now considered fit enough to start alongside Michael Owen in a game where England only have to avoid defeat to top their group.

Apart from Neville, the other members of Eriksson’s 23-man squad all took part in training, including Owen Hargreaves, who will start his first international for 27 months.

The Bayern Munich midfielder will take over from the rested Steven Gerrard - his first appearance in the starting X1 since the friendly international against Sweden in March 2004.