Alli trains as Southgate plans for Belgium World Cup match

Dele Alli was back training today, sprinting and kicking balls, as Gareth Southgate planned ahead for England's final World Cup group game against Belgium.

Alli's availability would be a boost and his participation at England's base in Repino suggests the midfielder is close to recovering from a thigh strain he picked up in the side's opening win against Tunisia.

But with qualification already secured and a strong argument emerging for finishing second rather than first in Group G, Southgate must decide whether key players, including Alli, are in need of a rest or if he sticks to a winning formula.

While the eleven that started Sunday's match against Panama were spared training after their crushing 6-1 win, England's substitutes were put through a running session and did some ball work.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Alli's replacement against Panama, was bright and composed in Nizhny Novgorod, his shot cannoning off Harry Kane and into the net for England's sixth.

But Alli possesses a goal threat that Loftus-Cheek lacks and, crucially, England need if they are to take the burden away from their free-scoring captain.

"It's about the balance of goalscorers in the team," Southgate's assistant Steve Holland said last week.

"Someone told me a long time ago that to have a successful team you need three-and-a-half goalscorers. We've tried to address that."
- Kane threat -
===============