REPINO: England forward Jamie Vardy is “looking doubtful” for the World Cup quarter-final against Sweden on Saturday (today) after suffering a groin strain having come on as a late substitute in the last-16 win over Colombia, manager Gareth Southgate has said. Vardy was unlikely to be ready to face the Swedes after sitting out training on Thursday, Southgate added. “Vardy didn’t train today, so is looking doubtful for this game,” Southgate was quoted as saying by Sky Sports on Thursday. “But we’ll know a bit more tomorrow (Friday), really. The others were all on the pitch. We didn’t do a lot. “I think at this stage, minimal time on the pitch, a lot of our information is going to have to be in meetings. “Because it really is as much about recovery, physical and psychological, as everything else. The downside of that is we can’t push the players enough today to see whether they’re OK. “So we’ll know more tomorrow. We’ll have to make late decisions. I think every team will be in the same boat on that.” Southgate was more upbeat about midfielder Dele Alli, who was back in the team against Colombia after missing the Group G matches against Panama and Belgium with a thigh issue. “Dele was absolutely fine after the game, didn’t feel anything,” Southgate added. “I think the extra couple of days were really helpful for him. Published in Daily Times, July 7th 2018.