Dyer winning his fitness battle

Kieron Dyer could be fit to play in England's World Cup opener against Sweden on 2 June.

The Newcastle midfielder is making excellent progress with his knee injury according to his manager Bobby Robson.

He said: "Our medical staff believe he is 10 days away from playing - that's playing, not training - and that wouldn't rule him out of England's plans. His knee looks fine and has improved dramatically. He's swimming and jogging and his knee is holding firm. He's not in discomfort and he's making excellent progress."

Dyer has been buoyed by a new four-year deal with Newcastle but thought he needed a miracle to make Sven-Goran Eriksson's final squad on 21 May. Robson said: "Now it's up to England to look at him and analyse the situation. I spoke to Sven and (Football Association chief executive) Adam Crozier and passed all that information on to them.

"They are going to try to get hold of our physios so they can make their assessment, but our people are very optimistic-and so is Kieron." Dyer will fly from London on Friday night and join the the team for their flight to Korea.

Paul Newman, the FA's director of communications, said decisions about his fitness will be made next week. He said: "Sven has always made the point that he would give Kieron as long as he could. They have made the judgment that it's worth giving Kieron every chance."

Eriksson, who spoke to Dyer last night after receiving the latest medical update from Newcastle, said: "This is very positive news. Kieron will be coming out to join us and we'll see what happens then. It seems that he can start running again and it's important that in the next few days our medical staff get the chance to assess him in detail and see if he can prove his fitness."

However, in a statement on the FA's website, www.theFA.com, Eriksson had previously warned: "The important thing for any player at a World Cup is to be 100 per cent fit."