England match is on despite stadium fire

England's World Cup qualifier in Andorra will go ahead despite a spectacular fire at the stadium on the eve of the game.

England are in the Pyrenees to take on the side ranked 156th in the world and trained at the Estadi Nacional yesterday lunchtime, before Gareth Southgate, inset, and stand-in skipper Kieran Trippier faced the media.

Shortly after England left the 3,300-capacity stadium a fire broke out on the TV gantry, with black smoke filling the air as flames ripped through the structure in Andorra la Vella.

Stadium staff tried to get the blaze under control with sprinklers before the fire brigade arrived, with one onlooker claiming that welders had been working there when the fire started.

The Football Association was initially unsure whether there would be an impact on this evening's qualifier, but the Andorran Football Federation confirmed the match is unaffected by the fire.

A spokesperson for the governing body said: "As we all know there has been a small accident and a fire.

"No personal harm has been reported, only material damages and the schedule will continue as foreseen. There has been an official statement given by our minister of sport and the president of the federation. The match will be played." The clean-up operation was under way as Andorra trained last night, with cones laid out to show the area for players to avoid. The damaged surface is set to be replaced before the game, with Andorra boss Koldo Alvarez relaxed about the situation."i think that what we have to do is congratulate everybody because there has been no personal harm, which is the most important part,” he said.