• World Cup

England losing 2kg per training session

Ben Foster donned a full tracksuit and under-layers during England's training camp in the Algarve © Getty Images

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Ben Foster has revealed England's players have been losing up to two kilograms per training session ahead of the World Cup in Brazil.

Roy Hodgson's squad flew to Miami this week as they try to adjust to the high temperatures and intense humidity of Manaus, the venue for their opening match against Italy on June 14.

The squad have already finished a hard regime in Portugal, where they trained in thermal layers, hats and gloves before returning to England to work in heat chambers at their St George's Park base.

"We've been really busy," said goalkeeper Ben Foster. "At St George's Park last week we were doing double sessions. We trained in the morning, had lunch and then everybody would literally have to go and have a bit of a sleep.

"It's been kind of like pre-season and then at night we were doing bike sessions and heat chambers, where basically, you're in a sauna on a bike. We've been doing half-hour sessions in there and it's brutal, really hard work. No one's grumbled or moaned about it, just got on with it.

"When we were in Portugal we wore under-armour, t-shirts, zip-up tops with wet tops over that. So it's a lot of layers. When it was 22 degrees, the lads were losing two kilos in sweat in every training session.

"It's what goes with it. It's trying to replicate the heat and humidity out here. So we'd be weighed before and after training, so you'd know how much fluid you've got to replace."

The temperature at Miami's Sun Life Stadium is expected to reach 28 degrees Celsius this afternoon with humidity of around 62% when England take on Ecuador in their penultimate warm up game.

On Tuesday temperatures in Manaus topped 30C with humidity ratings climbing as high as 72%. But those figures are likely to be a lot lower by kick-off time a week on Saturday when England start their World Cup campaign against the Italians.

Both sides have already agreed to take a drinks break in both halves of the match in Manaus, something FIFA will allow during the tournament.

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