England's Smalling allays injury fears ahead of Euro 2016 opener

Chantilly (France) (AFP) – England centre-back Chris Smalling allayed concerns about his fitness on Wednesday after being pictured with strapping on his left knee.

The Manchester United centre-back, 26, had a large white bandage around his knee as he alighted from the team bus following England’s open training session at their Chantilly base on Tuesday.

But he is fully confident that he will be able to line up against Russia in Marseille for England’s Euro 2016 opener on Saturday.

“There’s no injury scare, it’s normal,” he told a press conference at the England media centre.

“I often ice different parts of my body or jump in an ice bath. It’s the normal recovery process.”

Smalling was also optimistic about Ryan Bertrand’s chances of featuring against Russia, despite the Southampton left-back having trained away from the rest of the squad on Tuesday.

“I’m not too sure. I’ve seen him doing parts (of training),” Smalling said. “I think he’s close, so fingers crossed.”