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England World Cup squad begin preparations at St George's Park

Fully focused | Dele Alli is one of 16 England players already training ahead of the World Cup: AFP/Getty Images
Fully focused | Dele Alli is one of 16 England players already training ahead of the World Cup: AFP/Getty Images

England began their World Cup training camp on Monday with 16 of their 23-man squad reporting to St George's Park for meetings and training.

Chelsea's FA Cup-winning captain Gary Cahill, as well as beaten Manchester United quartet Phil Jones, Ashley Young, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford have been given additional rest and recovery time and will not link up with their team-mates until Sunday.

That leaves Liverpool pair Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who take on Real Madrid in the Champions League final on Saturday and will not complete the full squad until early next month.

The senior squad was bolstered on Monday by James Tarkowksi and Jake Livermore, two of the five players placed on standby, Manchester City goalkeeper Angus Gunn and Watford's Nathaniel Chalobah.

Gunn will be on hand until Burnley's Tom Heaton - the official goalkeeping back-up to Jordan Pickford, Jack Butland and club-mate Nick Pope - takes his place next week, while Chalobah has been invited along after ending an eight-month lay-off in the final game of the season.

Lewis Cook and Adam Lallana complete Southgate's standby list but are not involved yet.

Cook is with Aidy Boothroyd's under-21s ahead of this summer's Toulon Tournament, which he will take part in provided he is not required in Russia, while Lallana is another member of Liverpool's Kiev-bound squad.

Southgate has yet to name his captain for the tournament and Henderson's absence from St George's Park could delay any announcement.

He joins Harry Kane and Eric Dier as the likeliest candidates to lead the team, and Southgate will be expected to speak with all three before handing out the armband.

England start their World Cup campaign against Tunisia on June 18, followed by Group G clashes against Panama and Belgium.

More immediately, they take on Nigeria at Wembley on June 2 before a farewell fixture against Costa Rica at Elland Road five days later.