Ahead of the June 2 friendly against the Super Eagles, England has stepped up their training as Gareth Southgate put his men through their paces at St George’s Park and also tested his players’ conditioning with a hard gym session.
Southgate, who worked with 16 of the 23 selected at Burton this week, wanted to make the most of his time with the players as he looks to keep them ticking over ahead of their first of two warm-up matches against Nigeria on June 2 before their World Cup campaign kicks-off against Tunisia 16 days later.
Dele Alli and Danny Rose, who are both expected to play a key part for England in this summer’s tournament, paired up and took it in turns to work on various muscle-building exercises with a heavy bench bar.
Southgate also had players work out on a exercise bike, including newly-appointed captain for the tournament, Harry Kane, with groups of 10 switching around at regular intervals.
Jack Butland, who is likely to compete with Jordan Pickford for the No 1 jersey at the World Cup, was also working hard in the gym and was pictured using Olympic rings during the session.
The England boss also tested his players out on the pitch as he looks to gain a better understanding of who could feature in his starting XI at the tournament.
The next stage of preparation camp will take in the Wembley friendly against Nigeria on June 2 and final warm-up match against Costa Rica at Elland Road on June 7.