This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The England coach Roy Hodgson is hopeful Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be fit for the team’s second World Cup match against Uruguay.

The Arsenal midfielder injured his right knee during a warm-up match against Ecuador last Wednesday.

Hodgson said at England’s training camp in Rio de Janeiro that Oxlade-Chamberlain has been stepping up his recovery and the signs are positive.

Hodgson is hopeful Oxlade-Chamberlain will have recovered for the 19 June match but said he could offer no guarantees. England opens their World Cup campaign against Italy on Saturday in Manaus.

“He’s done very well and will work on his training programme during the course of the week,” Hodgson said of Oxlade-Chamberlain. “The medics hope he’ll be ready for the second game.”

Hodgson denied reports that the England captain Steven Gerrard had a groin injury. Gerrard has been stepping up his work on the training field over recent days and, according to Hodgson, there are no worries about the Liverpool midfielder.

“We did a training session (on Monday) where the players who didn’t play on Saturday (against Honduras) trained, and some of the others did a warm-down session,” he said.

“Steven did some extra work at the end of that training session. There’s nothing wrong with him and I don’t understand that story at all.”

With the Italy game now four days away, the hype is increasing but Hodgson will not be giving away any team secrets.

“I don’t intend on giving too much away, other than what I’ve said on that – that it’s good to have options and choices,” he said.

Hodgson has taken a young squad to Brazil and added: “It’s very exciting. We have a lot of potential but before we build people up too much and say how good they are, let’s see some performances.

“I’m not trying to play down that the future is bright but what I’m saying is we are also going to need our experienced players.”