England boss Roy Hodgson believes that Luis Suarez's return from injury could inject Uruguay with a timely psychological boost for tonight's World Cup clash.

Suarez's fitness has made for an intriguing subplot in the build-up to the encounter in Sao Paulo, with the player himself revealing that he is raring to go while coach Oscar Tabarez offered conflicting assessments over his condition.

Nevertheless, the Liverpool ace, who hit 31 Premier League goals last season en route to multiple Player of the Year awards, is poised to play some part in the game and Hodgson acknowledges the impact that his return could have.

"We believe Luis Suarez will come back and that will be a big boost for them, not just as a player but as a sort of confidence booster for the whole team," he told reporters.

"Of course we would like to think that as a team we can keep him quiet but I'm sure he's got other ideas. We know how good he is. We know what he can do and our players will have to make certain - like they do when they play against Liverpool - that they deal with it."

Tonight's game is scheduled to kick off at 8pm.

Written by
Shane Callaghan