PHIL JONES, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere, the three major injury worries in the England World Cup squad, all came through a training session in Portugal yesterday as England stepped up their preparations for Brazil.

England manager Roy Hodgson was obviously delighted with just three weeks until his team kick off in Group D against Italy in Manaus, deep in the heart of the Amazon, where heat and humidity will be high.

The 30-man contingent  have had three positive days of training at Vale do Lobo as Hodgson prepares for next Friday’s warm-up friendly against Peru at Wembley

Arsenal duo Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wilshere have been slight concerns before the World Cup after they ended the season with groin and foot injuries respectively.

Manchester United defender Jones is the major concern and was again restricted to a non-contact session. 

Having warmed up with England’s other defensive players, he went off to do a light session with physio Steve Kemp as he continues his return from a shoulder injury.

Jones was joined in non-contact training by standby Everton defender John Stones who was flown out in case Jones does not recover from his injury. Unfortunately the back-up player then tweaked his knee, though it is not considered to be serious. 

A buoyant Hodgson told a press conference: “The first three days have gone as well as I could possibly have hoped for. But there’s a long way to go and three more days to get through but we’ve made a good start.

“We had a slightly unfortunate incident with John Stones. He twisted his knee very slightly in training but it’s nothing serious.

“He could have trained but we decided to leave him out because it’s so early on and we don’t want to take any risks.

“It was nice to see Phil Jones joining in the warm-up. He’s training very, very well and it looks like he might be taking part even before the end of this week.”

Hodgson feels the competition for places in the squad, which will be reduced to a confirmed final 23 before England head to Brazil, has ensured the players take their training especially seriously.

“I think they’re excited to be selected and I think everyone realises that my choice was a difficult one,” Hodgson said.

“It wasn’t just a case of taking the only players that were there. There were more players than these who could easily have come, so I think there was a lot of tension among players before I made my selection as they waited to be chosen.

“So in this camp of course there’s a lot of enthusiasm but they’re also happy that they are taking part in this incredible adventure and that they’re the ones who are going to be leading England over the next few weeks.”