This is what will happen if you lose to Scotland, Gareth!
No mobiles, commando drills, four-mile hike — it’s been two gruelling days with the Royal Marines for...
ENGLAND stars had their phones confiscated before being whisked off to a weekend of gruelling military training ahead of Saturday’s World Cup qualifier with the Auld Enemy.
As revealed by MailOnline yesterday, manager Gareth Southgate organised a secret trip to a Royal Marines training camp in Devon to prepare for the Scotland clash.
But, in what is a significant climbdown, the squad were allowed to leave the England camp on Sunday night before reconvening at St George’s Park today.
In November, the Football Association launched a crackdown on allowing squad members nights off while on international duty as a result of Wayne Rooney’s infamous late night at the Grove Hotel ahead of a friendly against Spain.
But Southgate has relaxed his stance by allowing his stars to return to their families for two nights before returning for an evening training session.
Since his appointment as perma-permanent England managerger in November, Southgate has tried to implement innova-vative training techniques.
The 48-hour camp wass designed as a teambonding exercise, the confiscation of players’ phones viewed as a means to bring the squad closer together.
The players, who met up at St George’s Park on Friday, were shocked too discover they would be heading to the Royal Marines’ines’ commando training centrere near Exeter. In an attempt to take them out of their comfort zone, the players were put through a number of drills, including a four-mile hike with 21kg on their backs.
The squad then spent the night camping on Woodbury Common, a far cry from the comfortable surroundings of St George’s.
Southgate said: ‘We wanted to come and put the guys into a different environment, something they weren’t expecting.
‘The Marines talk about a dislocated expectation and that was part of the theme of the camp. How will we be adaptable in moments of difficulty for us as a team? There were some team objectives to push yourselves beyond where you thought you could go and knowing you don’t want to let any of your team-mates down.
‘We wanted to expose the guys to an elite environment with one of the elite forces in the world. We wanted them to see that there’s another world out there. These guys represent Queen and country. We do the same but the consequences of failure for the Royal Marines are far higher. That gives us a good context and comparison.
‘The greatest outcome was that we worked as one team — support staff and players. There was a real connection formed between everybody and it was also a great life experience for everybody.’
Gary Cahill, Eric Dier, Chris Smalling, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford were unavailable for the trip and will meet up with the rest of the squad today.
Southgate’s on-field preparations for Saturday’s clash at Hampden Park begin today. Harry Kane is expected to lead the line for Southgate for the first time and Cahill is set to return in central defence after missing the win over Lithuania in March through suspension.