Eriksson 'very confident' Drogba will get thumbs-up

Sven-Goran Eriksson is hopeful that Ivory Coast superstar Didier Drogba can be unleashed on Brazil in their World Cup clash tomorrow and does not anticipate his much-discussed protective cast to cause any problems.

Drogba came on as a substitute in the opening Group G match against Portugal after FIFA and a delegation from the Portuguese federation approved the cast he has on his arm to protect a fracture suffered in a World Cup warm-up match.

Eriksson would not confirm that the Chelsea star would start, but sounded optimistic and did not anticipate any more problems with the cast.

Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz questioned the decision to permit it after the match and Brazil team doctor Jose Luiz Runco wanted assurances tonight that there were no “metallic elements” to it.

The Swede said: “We are not sure yet but we will speak to him tomorrow. He might be ready.

“(The cast) was an issue after the game which I did not understand. FIFA have looked at it, the referee looked at it and decided it’s not a problem.

“It’s not dangerous so I expect the same thing will be done tomorrow. I am very confident that will not be a problem.”