Euro 2016: Chris Smalling eases injury fears following England training

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Rory Dollard7 June 2016

England defender Chris Smalling provided a minor injury scare on Tuesday but is not expected to miss any training sessions.

The Manchester United defender, one of only three specialist centre-halves in the squad, returned to England's Chantilly hotel with an ice pack on his left knee after an afternoon session at the side's Stade de Bourgognes base.

The Football Association's medical staff are not thought to be concerned about the issue and the 26-year-old could be back in action on Wednesday morning, providing it does not flare up overnight.

Smalling himself did not appear in major discomfort and was carrying the team's toy lion mascot as he stepped off the bus.

England manager Roy Hodgson gambled by taking just seven specialist defenders to France, augmented by the versatile Eric Dier, and cannot afford that number to diminish further.

Left-back Ryan Bertrand has been sidelined for several days already with an unspecified knock, while Chelsea centre-back Gary Cahill missed the friendly against Portugal following pain-killing injections for a hip complaint.

As if to further allay fears, Smalling tweeted four images of himself at training with the a tick emoji followed by: "First training session".

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