Eriksson confident Walcott is ready and Rooney will be

The Beckhams' World Cup party did not seem to have taken its toll on the England players yesterday with the entire squad - minus Rooney - training at their Hertfordshire base. But they began with a warning from Sir Bobby Charlton that including Walcott was a mistake: the 1966 World Cup-winner said that stepping up to international level could be damaging for a player yet to play in the Premiership.

Eriksson, however, has been uncharacteristically bullish about his selection ever since naming Walcott in the squad and said that the previous week he had spent working with the Arsenal striker had done nothing to dissuade him from his earlier conviction. But when it came to that other great conundrum of the England team - Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard playing together - the manager was once again vague.

The good news was that Michael Owen is, in the words of Eriksson, " super-fit" and will play in the B international against Belarus on Thursday. He also said that he still believes Rooney will play some part in the World Cup finals, although the Swede is hedging his bets on Thursday's crucial scan on the Manchester United's broken fourth metatarsal of his right foot.

On Rooney, the picture will look much clearer come Friday when the results of his second major scan are released. "I've always been very positive, maybe more with my heart than my head," Eriksson said. "I'm quite sure Rooney will be ready at some stage during the World Cup. I strongly believe that. On Friday we will know much better.

"I know that we are in regular contact with the doctor. He is working very, very hard, doing everything possible. It's not a surprise. Wayne Rooney is desperate to play in the World Cup. I spoke to him last week. I phone him now and again. Yes, he thinks he will be OK."

But it was Walcott, who once again dominated discussion. Eriksson confirmed he will play some role in the game at the Madejski Stadium on Thursday, probably as a substitute, and certainly his training session in the grounds of a hotel on the outskirts of Watford yesterday gave cause for optimism. In a six-a-side team also featuring Aaron Lennon he looked confident and scored.

"I've not regretted picking him [Walcott] at all," Eriksson said. "If you had seen the two goals he scored on Friday in training [in Portugal], they were very, very good. He's a huge talent, no doubts about that. He is mentally ready for it. I don't think anyone expects him to come in against Brazil and score three goals but he is here and he deserves to be here. Who knows? Maybe in the next World Cup he will start.

"He has fitted in absolutely. He is a very steady boy. I don't think he is worried at all about it. Before I checked him I spoke with Arsenal and other people about what kind of boy he is. I don't think he will suffer from this. I don't think he has any fear. Why should he? He has nothing to lose. He's here, he fits in and he's quick, he's very quick."

It will be Lennon, who looked impressive in a rare open training session, who will be the more likely starter on Thursday. The England B team will not feature Lampard, Gerrard, David Beckham, Paul Robinson, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry or Joe Cole - the Chelsea winger was the star performer in training yesterday. Eriksson is expected to pick Stewart Downing on the left, Lennon on the right with Peter Crouch and Owen in attack.

While Eriksson will experiment in the centre of midfield against Belarus - Owen Hargreaves and Jermaine Jenas are the likely candidates - there was a familiar uncertainty about how Lampard and Gerrard will play together. Failing to get the best from the pair, especially Gerrard, has been a recurring theme under Eriksson and the pressure is on the England manager.

"When I saw him [Gerrard] today and said 'Hello' I made a small joke as well," Eriksson said. "First of all I said 'Congratulations' for what he has been winning. Then I asked him, 'What are you now? Are you a midfielder or a centre-forward?' He said, 'Who knows?' Steven Gerrard is a fantastic football player."

A joke of sorts, although there is nothing especially funny about the England manager not knowing how best to deploy arguably his most gifted player after Rooney. Eriksson's favourite tactic when it comes to dividing the defensive duties between Gerrard or Lampard is generally to let the players decide and hope for the best - nothing he said yesterday suggested he had hit upon a new formula.

"They always play good together, if we take away one game, when nobody played well [against] Northern Ireland]," Eriksson said. "We are talking about two of the best midfielders in the world, two extremely intelligent football players. Of course they can handle that [play one as a defensive midfielder], if we decide that."

The fitness of Owen, who has played just 30 minutes of competitive football since breaking the fifth metatarsal of his right foot on New Year's Day, should be confirmed, Eriksson said, when he partners Crouch in attack on Thursday. This strike pairing is likely to feature against Hungary and Jamaica and, a Rooney miracle notwithstanding, they seem to be the starting front two for Paraguay on 10 June.

"He [Owen] is physically fantastic, you can see how hungry he is to play football," Eriksson said. "He's super-fit as well. I guess when he got the injury his mind was always on the World Cup. I saw a happy face last week."

* The West Ham midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker withdrew from England's World Cup stand-by list last night because of a back problem. He was replaced by Phil Neville.