Source: SKY_Sports
Rio delighted to be back
Rio Ferdinand is delighted to be back in the England squad and insists he is over his injury problems that plagued him at the start of the season.
The Manchester United defender has played just three times in the last ten England games due to a combination of back and thigh problems.
The 30-year-old has not played for his country since the 2-2 draw in Holland at the start of the season but is set to return for the World Cup qualifier in Ukraine on Saturday.
England have already sealed their place at the World Cup finals in South Africa next summer but manager Fabio Capello is determined to finish the group strongly and will name his first choice XI against Ukraine.
Ferdinand is pleased to be back in the England fold and declares that his injury problems are now a thing of the past.
"It's been frustrating over the past few months because I have had to miss games for club and country so to be fit for this game and up for selection I am delighted," he said.
"I'm fine, my back hasn't been a problem this season, this season I was injured because I pulled my thigh the day before the season started so it has no connection to my back.
"So my back is in a clean bill of health so that's not a concern of mine any more."
If fit Ferdinand is a certainty to board the plane to South Africa in what would be his fourth World Cup and the centre-half reveals he has learnt a lot from each tournament.
"I think (I have learnt) how to manage yourself, not just on the pitch but off the pitch, how to recuperate, what to eat and what to do with your spare time and trying to tune your mind into the games properly," he added.
"That is a big element of doing fairly well in a big tournament."
Ferdinand insists the team can improve on many areas ahead of the tournament but admits that the players will not thinking about next summer until the qualification process is finished.
"I don't think we can single out any areas we need to improve on, we need to improve on many areas," he pointed out.
"I think once we finish the qualification campaign and once the draw is done we can get serious about who we will be playing but we need to make sure everything is sorted when we get there."
In his absence Ferdinand is aware that players have come in and performed admirably in his place and the Red Devils ace is all too aware that competition for places will hot up even more with a World Cup on the horizon.
"That's inevitable (competition for places)," he stated.
"I think everyone knows places are up for grabs for the plane to South Africa. We must perform at our highest abilities in training with the national team or playing for your clubs at the weekend."
