Centre back can't wait to meet up with squad...

Tottenham Hotspur defender Michael Dawson intends to grab his World Cup opportunity with both hands after replacing injured England skipper Rio Ferdinand Dawson, 26, was originally cut from manager Fabio Capello's provisional 30-man squad on Tuesday. But the Manchester United's centre-back's knee injury has seen him handed a second chance to play in the tournament and he will fly out to South Africa tonight.Speaking to Spurs' official website, Dawson expressed his sympathy for Ferdinand."It's a crazy game and things can change in a split second," Dawson said."One minute I'm trying to arrange my holiday, then I get a call asking if I was on holiday because Rio had pulled out of training. I said ‘no' and then I was just waiting by the phone before getting a call saying I would be picked up in an hour."It's been a crazy day. For Rio to get injured, there would be no worse feeling for him as a player. To miss the biggest tournament in the world as the captain, I feel for him."I missed the Carling Cup final in 2008, and there was nothing anyone could have said to me that could have made me feel any better. For Rio, the feeling will be the same, but it's a chance for me now.



Big blow | England will miss their captain

Become a fan of Goal.com UK's Facebook fan page for all the latest news and insight into everything related to the beautiful game!

"I've not had time to think about it but I've had call after call with people wishing me good luck."I know all the lads through having been with them for two weeks so I'll just be going out there and training as normal."I was planning to watch the first game of the tournament with my friends and family, but now I'm going to be there for real."I'll be going out there still having not yet won a senior cap, so where better place to get one if that was to happen. But I'll just go there and train like I do every day at Spurs and we'll have to see what happens."It's great to have four other Spurs lads out there as well."