The bizarre new way England are trying to prevent injuries at the World Cup

England are attempting to avoid another injury nightmare by using so-called ‘Lizard Heat’ pants during the World Cup.

The Three Lions have previous suffered a series of infamous injury problems in the run-up to major international tournaments, and during the competitions themselves.

Wayne Rooney almost missed the 2006 tournament in Germany with a broken metatarsal, and Michael Owen tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the opening seconds of the group game with Sweden in the same year.

Four years before, Gary Neville missed the tournament, also due to a metatarsal problem, while Steven Gerrard suffered a groin injury after being included in the squad for the tournament.

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In 2010, the England party for South Africa was afflicted by misfortune again, with David Beckham only fit enough to attend as a spectator, and Rio Ferdinand suffered an injury during a training session.

Current manager Gareth Southgate is in no mood to take any risks, and is going the extra mile in order to ensure his players are in perfect physical condition. The Daily Mail is reporting one unusual method that Southgate has decided to employ to keep his players fresh and to avoid injury at this crucial period.

The paper claims that the players are using ‘Lizard Heat’ pants, which are designed to keep the user’s leg muscles at an optimum temperature at rest, which minimises the chance of any injuries such as muscle strains and tears.

This is the first time the squad have used such methods, though athletes are of course famous for using cold, such as ice baths, to reduce inflammation and speed up recovery.

The inventor and managing director of Lizard Heat was asked about his creation, and explained to the Mail how he came up with the equipment:

“I came up with the idea while watching Formula 1 and watching a piece by Sky on the technology and science as to why rubber is warmed pre-race in whatever conditions.

“I applied the concept to football players using far-infrared technology which offers penetrative warmth over the standard solutions like hot water bottles and heated wheat bags or blankets.

“They decided to adopt a few units for Russia 2018, which as an England fan is a dream come true.”

England’s national team aren’t the first to use the devices, as they are already employed by the rugby teams of both England and Wales, by cycling teams, and there are plans for Manchester City, Everton and Leeds United to use them for next season.