England’s players have been losing up to 2kg in bodyweight in every warm-weather training session as they attempt to acclimatise for their potentially draining collision with Italy in the humidity of Manaus in 10 days’ time.

Roy Hodgson has had his squad working in three layers of clothing for some drills since the party first convened on the Algarve a fortnight ago to prepare them for the conditions in Amazonia and the players are also undertaking “brutal” exercise bike drills in heat chambers.” At St George’s Park last week we were doing double sessions,” said the goalkeeper, Ben Foster. “It’s kind of like pre-season and then, at night, we were doing bike sessions in heat chambers to get ready. Basically, you’re in a sauna on a bike. We’ve been doing half-hour sessions in there and it’s brutal, really hard work. No one’s grumbled or moaned about it. We’ve just got on with it. When we were in Portugal we wore under-armour, t-shirts, zip up tops and a wet top over that. So it’s a lot of layers. When it was 22 degrees, the lads were losing two kilos in sweat in every training session: it’s all about trying to replicate the heat and humidity out there.” So we’d be weighed before and after training, so you’d know how much fluid you’ve got to replace.

England’s players will experience severe humidity in Miami when they take on Ecuador on Wednesday afternoon. The game kicks off at 3pm and the temperature at the Sun Life stadium is forecast to be 28C, with 62% humidity. Manaus on Tuesday was 30C, with 72% humidity, though those figures are expected to be lower at kick-off time against Italy.

The team’s first training session on Monday had been wrecked by heavy thunderstorms, on the first day of the local hurricane season, though the rain stayed away while they prepared at the home of the Miami Dolphins.

The Football Association’s 77-man travelling party includes the like of the head of performance services, Dave Reddin, an exercise scientist in Chris Neville, the Manchester United fitness coach Tony Strudwick and Arsenal’s nutritionist James Collins. The team also boast West Ham’s head chef, Tim De’ath, with Foster confirming tomato sauce is now firmly back on the menu having been banned in South Africa four years ago by Fabio Capello.

“The chef’s doing a good job,” added the West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper. “Have you ever seen our food? It’s incredible. They’ve probably got seven or eight different stations of everything you could want, it’s amazing. The sauce is a sore point, but we are allowed it now. And butter as well.”

The FA have sold their allocated 2,500 tickets for the game against the Azzurri in Manaus, with all having gone to England Fans members. The support will be bolstered in the stadium by others who have gained entry from Fifa general sale, though the Italians have sold only 200 tickets for the game and sent back the rest of their allocation. The FA’s allocation of 3,800 for the Uruguay game has also sold out, as is the South Americans’, with both having been oversubscribed.