Campbell boost for England

"Ledley King, for example, has done very well but he is another player who is not completely fit. His club have told me about his problems and, although he played well against Arsenal on Sunday, he was not moving as freely as he normally does. We will have to see how he is.

"In addition, two more players at Newcastle, Jermaine Jenas and Kieron Dyer, are both out injured while we have now learned that Aston Villa striker Darius Vassell's season is over because of hamstring problems.

"It is a worry for us but it is not unexpected. We have some statistics following an investigation into the fitness of players from different countries.

"They found that players in England - after Christmas - have more injuries than their counterparts from other countries because of the fixture schedule."

However, Grip ruled out the possibility of delaying the announcement of the England squad. "We are due to name a 23-man squad on 17 May and we will stick to that," the 66-year-old coach said.

"Because of injuries, I would say we are looking at a list of 30 players. There are some who we want to watch carefully between now and the end of the season."

One of those fringe players is certain to be Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe, particularly following the injury to Vassell.

"We have been very impressed with him. He is very close." said Grip.

Although he's out for the rest of the domestic season, Middlesbrough's Southgate has not given up on being fit in time for Portugal.

The former Crystal Palace and Aston Villa defender is recovering from a torn medial knee ligament but said: "I had the identical injury before Euro '96 and I had slightly less time to recover.

"I made it in time though and I am optimistic I will be fit this time as well."