Post by Taxigirl on Jun 15, 2004 8:58:32 GMT
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/euro_2004/england/3805495.stm
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has seen his injury list grow with Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt now doubtful for Thursday's game against Switzerland.
Scholes twisted an ankle in Sunday's 2-1 defeat to France and Eriksson admitted the Manchester United man has only a "50-50" chance of playing.
It then emerged Butt had damaged his knee in training on Monday and will get the results of a scan on Tuesday.
Owen Hargreaves might now step in for the must-win match against the Swiss.
Bayern Munich midfielder Hargreaves came on as a substitute for Scholes against France and would probably be favourite to replace him from the start on Thursday, particularly in the absence of Butt.
The other options for Eriksson would be Joe Cole of Chelsea or Newcastle's Kieron Dyer.
"I spoke to the doctor and physio and they say he's the only one who is 50-50 for Thursday," Eriksson said of Scholes, before it emerged that Butt had picked up an injury.
"Nicky Butt injured his right knee in training this afternoon. He was taken for a scan and we expect to know the results in the morning," said an FA spokesman later.
Eriksson, who has set a deadline of Wednesday for Scholes to prove his fitness, had injury problems in defence ahead of the France game, with John Terry ruled out because of a hamstring injury.
Terry should be ready for the Switzerland game, however, and will hope to win his place back from Ledley King.
Gary Neville is also carrying a slight calf problem and did not train on Monday but Eriksson is expecting him to be fit for Thursday.
Meanwhile, Eriksson dismissed the suggestion that his tactics had led directly to France's stunning comeback, when they scored twice in injury time.
The Swede made three changes when England were winning their Group B opener on Sunday, bringing on Emile Heskey, Darius Vassell and Owen Hargreaves for Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and Scholes.
"I don't regret the substitutions," he said. "All three players who came on did well.
"In the last 10 minutes we seemed to take over the game and France seemed to run out of ideas.
"But obviously the last few minutes showed that wasn't the case."
Eriksson remains upbeat about England's prospects of bouncing back to qualify for the quarter-finals - and he is putting his faith in a repeat of the first 90 minutes against France.
"Knowing the English mentality, I think they will look forward to Thursday," he said.
"I think they would like to play today again, and show that the last three minutes against France can't happen again.
"If we perform like that again I think we will go through and have a good tournament."
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has seen his injury list grow with Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt now doubtful for Thursday's game against Switzerland.
Scholes twisted an ankle in Sunday's 2-1 defeat to France and Eriksson admitted the Manchester United man has only a "50-50" chance of playing.
It then emerged Butt had damaged his knee in training on Monday and will get the results of a scan on Tuesday.
Owen Hargreaves might now step in for the must-win match against the Swiss.
Bayern Munich midfielder Hargreaves came on as a substitute for Scholes against France and would probably be favourite to replace him from the start on Thursday, particularly in the absence of Butt.
The other options for Eriksson would be Joe Cole of Chelsea or Newcastle's Kieron Dyer.
"I spoke to the doctor and physio and they say he's the only one who is 50-50 for Thursday," Eriksson said of Scholes, before it emerged that Butt had picked up an injury.
"Nicky Butt injured his right knee in training this afternoon. He was taken for a scan and we expect to know the results in the morning," said an FA spokesman later.
Eriksson, who has set a deadline of Wednesday for Scholes to prove his fitness, had injury problems in defence ahead of the France game, with John Terry ruled out because of a hamstring injury.
Terry should be ready for the Switzerland game, however, and will hope to win his place back from Ledley King.
Gary Neville is also carrying a slight calf problem and did not train on Monday but Eriksson is expecting him to be fit for Thursday.
Meanwhile, Eriksson dismissed the suggestion that his tactics had led directly to France's stunning comeback, when they scored twice in injury time.
The Swede made three changes when England were winning their Group B opener on Sunday, bringing on Emile Heskey, Darius Vassell and Owen Hargreaves for Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and Scholes.
"I don't regret the substitutions," he said. "All three players who came on did well.
"In the last 10 minutes we seemed to take over the game and France seemed to run out of ideas.
"But obviously the last few minutes showed that wasn't the case."
Eriksson remains upbeat about England's prospects of bouncing back to qualify for the quarter-finals - and he is putting his faith in a repeat of the first 90 minutes against France.
"Knowing the English mentality, I think they will look forward to Thursday," he said.
"I think they would like to play today again, and show that the last three minutes against France can't happen again.
"If we perform like that again I think we will go through and have a good tournament."