Gareth Southgate defends decision to not train in Nizhny Novgorod

England manager Gareth Southgate has stood by his decision to not train in Nizhny Novgorod ahead of Sunday's meeting with Panama.

The Three Lions can make certain of their place in the last 16 of the World Cup with a game to spare if they see off the Central American minnows.

Unusually hot temperatures in the host city will see England play in 31°C heat when the game kicks off, and it is likely to feel even hotter due to the stadium's glass-panelled roof.

Southgate decided against training in Nizhny Novgorod on the eve of the match, however, as he felt that it was best to stick to his standard routine.

"We never trained at the stadiums before any qualifiers," he told reporters at his pre-match press conference. "That's fairly typical for most of the teams. When I come to the FIFA workshops they were keen for us not to train to protect the pitches.

"It makes sense for us to train early, recover and travel. It's more around the flow of the day, leave maximum time for physical recovery. The heat is different in different parts of the country, we have to adapt to that."

England are based in Repino for the duration of the tournament, where temperatures have been around 16-18°C this week.