Wayne Rooney ready to give Roy Hodgson a World Cup fitness boost

Crash, bang, wallop what a picture! At least it will be for England boss Roy Hodgson.

He may have been bulked up with thermal layers in preparation for the humidity of Brazil but there was no disguising the fact that Wayne Rooney looks lean and fresh.

Rooney was brimming with energy as he slammed into rugby-style tackling pads at St George's Park in a full contact physical drill organised by Manchester United fitness coach Tony Strudwick, who is in Hodgson's backroom team for these World Cup finals.

It's football, not rugby! Wayne Rooney is given a beating during strength work at England training

Showing his strength: Rooeny runs into the crash bag held by coach Tony Strudwick

Hotting up: Rooney and the rest of the England squad trained in plenty of layers to replicate the heat in Brazil

Strudwick worked with Rooney, Rickie Lambert, Daniel Sturridge and Daniel Welbeck, challenging the four strikers to muscle their way past the giant rubber pads before collecting a pass and firing at goal.

Hodgson had split his outfield players into positional groups for this part of the morning session and the England boss would have been delighted to see the glint in Rooney's eye.

 

Rooney and team-mates put through rugby-style training session

The United star missed the end of the season with a groin problem and took fitness and conditioning experts with him on holiday at the end of the campaign, determined to stay in shape after disappointments at his two previous World Cup tournaments.

Take a break: Rooney takes fluids on board during training

Struggle: Rooney was not fully fit for the last World Cup in South Africa

In 2006, he recovered from a broken metatarsal but lacked sharpness and erupted with a red card during England's quarter-final defeat against Portugal.

Four years ago he was also suffering niggling problems and fitness issues which limited his work in training.

Hodgson will hope this time it is different for Rooney and is sure to be encouraged by the evidence since his squad assembled last week.

Phil Jagielka revealed that players had been shedding more than a kilogram in each training session as they piled on extra clothing in preparation for the heat of the Amazon rainforest, where they will play Italy on June 14.

'We've all got three or four layers on,' said Jagielka. 'We've been told to weigh in before and after training. People are losing anything from a kilo to two kilos of sweat and that is going to be pretty much the case over there.

'We need to get used to playing in those conditions and hydrating properly as well. Training was quite difficult but at the same time enjoyable and it is quite exciting at the moment.'