HEAT IS ON NOW

GARETH Southgate has defended his decision to base England’s World Cup bid in the cool north of Russia as he arrived in Nizhny Novgorod to find temperatures soaring into the 30s.

Having trained all week in breezy conditions at their Gulf of Finland base, the England squad flew into a mini heatwave that could see the mercury rise to 33 degrees when their game against Panama kicks off at 3pm local time. As Southgate visited the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium for his pre-match press conference, the heat was stifling but the England manager insisted: “There’s no physiological benefit to train in the heat the two weeks before.

“We have to adapt. We are a team who keep possession and, in the heat, that will be key.”

Southgate confirmed Dele Alli will miss the game with a thigh strain.