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Wayne Rooney and Phil Jones will 'be fine for the World Cup', confirms Ryan Giggs

Saturday, May 10, 2014 by Dailymail

England were given a boost on Saturday when it was confirmed that Phil Jones should be fit to play in the World Cup and that his Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney will be in peak condition for Brazil.

Manager Roy Hodgson names his squad on Monday and it was feared Jones would be unavailable after injuring his left shoulder in United’s win over Hull on Tuesday.

However, the defender has suffered only bruising and minor ligament damage, and United’s interim boss Ryan Giggs expects him to be fit in time, even though he will miss the club’s final game of the season at Southampton tomorrow.


England boost! Wayne Rooney (L) and Phil Jones will recover from injury in time for the World Cup

'Phil’s injury isn’t as bad as I thought on the night,' said Giggs. 'He’s obviously out for Southampton but should be OK for the World Cup. We are still monitoring it but it doesn’t look too bad.'

Rooney will also miss the trip to St Mary’s, meaning he will have failed to play in United’s last three games of the season after aggravating a groin injury in training last week.

It has inevitably raised concerns over the fitness of England’s talisman, but Giggs believes Rooney will benefit from the break after going into the last two World Cups struggling with injury.

'Sunday probably will be a bit too soon for Wayne but he’ll train and be fine for the World Cup,' said Giggs. 'He has had a fantastic season and I think he is ready to make an impact. The injury was just a little groin strain but he’s fine.'

'He has done all the work in the gym, he trained yesterday and he’s going away next week to work on his fitness as well so the injury has probably done him a favour. He will be going into it relatively fresh.'


Lucky break! Phil Jones' injury is not as bad as first feared, although he will not appear in United's final game

Asked if this will be Rooney’s last chance to make an impact on a World Cup, at the age of 28, Giggs said: ‘Yes I think it is. Wayne is a top player and I think he is at a good age and at the peak of his powers.

'I know he cannot wait for it. It’s exciting, a World Cup in Brazil. We have all watched Brazil teams over the years so to play in a World Cup in Brazil is something I wish I had the pleasure of doing.'

Tomorrow sees Giggs’s last game in charge as United prepare to appoint Louis van Gaal next week.

They need to beat Southampton and for  Tottenham to lose at home to Aston Villa to clinch sixth place and qualify for the Europa League.


Up in the air: Ryan Giggs' future at Old Trafford will be decided by the next boss, expected to be Louis van Gaal

Giggs’ future remains uncertain, both in terms of prolonging his playing career at the age of 40 and joining Van Gaal’s backroom team. He indicated on Friday that he would like to play on after extending his appearance record to 963 on Tuesday, but said the decision will rest with the new manager.

'I loved it the other night coming on,' he said. 'I still enjoy training, even though I haven’t done much of it over the last couple of weeks. '

'I think it will be difficult to stop playing. It’s probably easier when you’ve had injury problems but I’ve never really had those.'

Meanwhile, England  doctors have visited Tottenham to assess full-back Kyle Walker’s fitness.

'He has not trained at all,' said Spurs boss Tim Sherwood. 'I suppose Roy is going to see if he wants to give Kyle time to get himself ready.'

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