England veteran Jordan Henderson has called on his teammates to “expose” themselves to Florida’s intense heat as they prepare for the upcoming World Cup.
The majority of the England squad have already arrived in the United States ahead of the tournament, which begins next week, with five players still to join the group later this week.
Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are among those yet to link up with the squad at their Florida base.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have set up camp in the Sunshine State with the specific aim of helping players adapt to the brutal American heat.
Temperatures hit 32C during the team’s first training session in West Palm Beach on Tuesday, giving players an early taste of what lies ahead.
Studies have shown that nearly a quarter of all World Cup games are likely to be played in temperatures exceeding 26C, making acclimatisation a significant priority.
BBC Sport previously revealed that Tuchel had advised his players to holiday in the USA after the domestic season, helping them adjust to both the heat and changes in time zone.
England forward Marcus Rashford was among those who followed that advice, taking his post-season break in the United States.
Henderson, set to appear in his seventh major tournament, stressed the importance of players building up their tolerance to the conditions, saying: “You just build your capacity to these conditions. I know that depends on where you’re playing in the country, it can be different all over so it’s hard to really adapt but it’s about this week to build that capacity, to get used to the heat a little bit.”
The Brentford midfielder added: “The warm-up games will be good for that as well and to get that exposure just best we can, we’ve got an amazing team behind the team and how much research they’ve done and tried to cool down and recovery and all that sort of stuff so that’s top, top level.”
Henderson concluded by acknowledging the challenge is shared across all competing nations, saying: “Hopefully that can give us a little edge as well when we get into the tournament but it’s the same for everyone so we’ve just got to go and try to just concentrate on the football.”
England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo echoed those sentiments, saying the squad were “working really hard” to get “acclimatised as quick as we can” ahead of their Group L opener.
Mainoo added: “Hopefully by the first game we’ll be ready and feel like home. It’s not so much about keeping cool because the weather’s going to be like this so I think it’s more getting used to the heat and getting used to the humidity out here.”
The 20-year-old acknowledged it was unlike anything he had previously experienced as a footballer, saying: “You know, it’s very different to anything I’ve played in, but hopefully over the next couple of weeks leading into the tournament you can really feel easy and feel at home.”
England begin their World Cup campaign against Croatia on 17 June in Dallas, Texas, before facing Ghana on 23 June in Massachusetts and Panama on 27 June at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
