Danny Welbeck says home comforts have been ideal World Cup preparation for England

On a mission | Danny Welbeck is keen to avoid a repeat of 2014
AP
James Olley11 June 2018

Danny Welbeck believes Gareth Southgate’s decision to shun a pre-World Cup training camp overseas will help England thrive at the finals.

England fly out tomorrow to their training base in Repino after Southgate decided on a domestic build-up - a departure from previous regimes.

Four years ago, Roy Hodgson took England to Miami for warm-weather training prior to the finals in Brazil, while in 2010 Fabio Capello opted for Austria ahead of their stay in South Africa.

This time, England beat Nigeria at Wembley before defeating Costa Rica in Leeds - two matches punctuating a relatively low-profile period in which the squad were based at St George’s Park and given short breaks to spend time with their families.

Welbeck, who was part of the 2014 squad in Brazil, told Standard Sport: “Being at the home base for England and training here, the facilities are second to none and we’ve been here so many times it is like a home away from home. The weather hasn’t been too bad here, which has helped.

“Maybe before, with previous camps, you have to try and acclimatise to different conditions we are going to play in. But staying here and training has been good for us. Hopefully it will help us do well at the tournament.”

ForRestMix Club: England's FIFA 2018 World Cup Base

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​Welbeck is one of just five players who were part of England’s last World Cup squad, eliminated after only two matches following successive defeats to Italy and Uruguay.

He added: “The whole world sits down and watches it and you know it is such a massive tournament that you just want to take your chance to do well.

“We didn’t do that four years ago and I’ve been waiting for the chance to put that right. Luckily we are here again to try and do that.”

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