Defender Chris Smalling insists England will not be changing their style of play to suit the sweltering conditions at this summer's World Cup in Brazil.

Roy Hodgson's side start the tournament against Italy in the challenging Amazonian climate of Manaus, where temperatures are expected to exceed 30 degrees celsius and humidity regularly soars above 75 per cent.

The players wore extra layers during sessions in Portugal last week to sweat more and simulate warmer conditions but Smalling is adamant that come June 14, England will not be doing anything differently.

"We've been wearing about four different layers in training, everyone has been sweating a lot more and that seems to be working - anything that makes us more ready, we'll do it," the Manchester United defender said.

"But I think each country - and especially us - will play their normal game.

"Our attacking force is all about pace and running at people and this squad has got that in abundance.

"We won't be changing our style for the conditions. We just want to make sure we're ready to play our game.

"We're going to go into each match the same way and if everyone can pull off what they've doing for their clubs, it's going to be exciting."

Hodgson has put faith in a host of young talents, with just five players on the plane to Brazil aged 29 or older.

Where in previous tournaments England have placed their hopes on a number of world-renowned stars, this time it may be up to the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling, Adam Lallana and Ross Barkley to carry the Three Lions through.

Smalling believes being an unknown quantity could turn out to be England's trump card.
"There's so much potential in the squad - there's that unknown factor about England," he said.

"If everything comes together, we can take teams by surprise with our pace and attacking instincts and then who knows how far we can go?

"I think there's that possibility where nobody is sure what England are about and if players can play to their potential you never know what can happen."

England fulfilling their attacking promise may depend on how bold Hodgson is prepared to be with his tactics and team selection.

Smalling, who previously worked under the England boss as a teenager at Fulham, is adamant Hodgson has all the qualities needed to get the best out of the young talents at his disposal.

"He has got that attacking instinct," Smalling said.

"He's bold enough to put those attacking players out on the pitch; he wouldn't have chosen them if he didn't want to do that."

Smalling said of the England manager: "He talks to the guys one to one a lot - he will talk to everyone as a group and then during sessions he will pull you aside on your own or maybe in groups, whether it be the defenders or midfielders or whatever.

"He's very approachable - I found that from my days at Fulham and even more now at England.

"He's a guy you can always talk to, if you ever need advice he's always there and that's important for young players."

England play Peru at Wembley on Friday before further warm-up matches against Ecuador and Honduras.

"I know Roy Hodgson has chosen me mainly for that centre back spot and that's my position," Smalling said.

"I'm going to be really vying for that place, training hard and staking a claim for that centre-back spot.

"I can obviously play right-back when needed and this season we've struggled with injuries there so I've stepped in, but I think the manager knows that's centre-back is my best position."

Smalling added: "There's places up for grabs - there's 11 shirts available for that first game against Italy and these next three warm-up matches will give the manager a good indication of who he wants to select."