Vickery fit to lead England

Editor

England captain Phil Vickery should be fit to face Italy on Sunday after recovering from a calf injury.

England captain Phil Vickery should be fit to face Italy on Sunday after recovering from a calf injury.

England coach Brian Ashton confirmed the Wasps prop's readiness for battle at a press conference in Rome on Saturday.

“Phil Vickery did some work this morning, he trained this afternoon,” he said.

“Unless there is a reaction overnight, he should be fit to take his place in the starting line-up.

“I'm very pleased, it would have been more than misfortunate after losing five players.”

Ashton admitted the news is a relief after the World Cup finalists suffered a string of injuries in last Saturday's 26-19 defeat by Wales.

Andrew Sheridan went down to a leg abscess during the week whilst centre Mike Tindall (bruised liver), wing David Strettle (foot) and flanker Tom Rees (knee) are out for the tournament, while Lewis Moody (Achilles) also misses the game in Rome.