Carragher hoping to keep place

Jamie Carragher is hoping to be given a run in the England team after their World Cup centre-half injury curse struck for the second time at the tournament.

Skipper Rio Ferdinand was ruled out only 24 hours after arriving in South Africa with a knee ligament injury. His replacement, Ledley King, suffered a groin problem during the opening clash with the United States and was substituted at half-time.

"Hopefully I'll play, Ledley did his groin early on and did well to battle on to half-time but it's a squad thing now," said Carragher.

"We have a couple of injuries in that area of the team. If I can get a chance, I would love to take it. That's one of the reasons I came back.

"I wasn't stupid. I knew I was coming here as a squad player, that I wasn't a starter, and so I was delighted to get on against USA and hopefully will get another chance.

"To play in another World Cup for England is a great thing for me and I'm proud of that from a personal point of view.

"The main thing now is that hopefully I can get a run in the team and we can get through the group."