Warnock Hopeful Of Japan Start Despite Injury

Stephen Warnock is prepared to soldier on in an effort to impress Fabio Capello despite twisting his ankle in training.

The story is covered on the official site, but uses the same quotes we covered the other day where Warnock discussed his chances of impressing Capello, but realising Leighton Baines was ahead of him in the pecking order - so to save your weary eyes I won't repeat them.

It is expected he will undergo a late fitness test before the Japan game, and although it's probably unlikely he will now start the game, fingers crossed he'll get some time on the pitch. The biggest question mark over his chances are that he'll need to be assessed ahead of Friday to find out whether or not he can resume training.

If he can't make training again ahead of the match his chances of appearing even for 20 minutes drastically reduce.

On the other hand, rather than risking it I'd much rather prefer his was given time to recover, especially as he's had ankle issues for the final few months of the season. We certainly don't want problems impinging on next season as we try and better our 666 finishes.

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