No time to adjust to heat

THIS is a season like no other but there are pros and cons. The advantages for Gareth Southgate and his players are that they will have done a decent pre-season and played just the right amount of football to be sharp. They won’t be tired so that line Michel Platini used about England players — lions in the winter, lambs in the spring — won’t be relevant this year.

The downside is that they have eight days from the Premier League finishing to the first game against Iran. And they have to adjust to the heat. It is usually 24 degrees at that time of year, so much cooler than the conditions the players had to play in yesterday.

But the body often takes time to adjust from an English autumn to the summer-like conditions in Qatar and the players need to be ready straightaway.

There is another issue: players like Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah, who are not going to Qatar. You want to give them a bit of time off — but not too long, as you need them at their peak when the league season resumes on Boxing Day. So some clubs will have to train with the Under 23s, which isn’t anywhere near the same level.