With his England side set to face Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica in the group stages next summer, Roy Hodgson has spoken of his positivity, despite being drawn in a difficult group:
"With Uruguay and Italy, it is like we have two number one seeds in the group. It doesnt surprise me that we got a difficult group, but I am very positive about the while affair still."
When asked how well he believes England will fare in Brazil, Hodgson replied:
"The only prediction that I am going to make is that they will all be great games. There will be plenty of speculation, but we will just concentrate on preparing the team."
Despite the climatic issues that his side will face in Manaus during the first game against Italy, Roy Hodgson is relatively pleased with the locations chosen for England's three group games:
"The conditions in the north will be difficult, but we [England and Italy] will both be in the same boat. It is very advantageous to us that we will be based out of Rio, as we will only have one long journey. If we'd had our three games in the north, it would have been much more difficult."
Group D
England
Italy
Uruguay
Costa Rica
