The South American side’s star striker has been included in their line-up for the Group D clash despite fears over his fitness

By Kris Voakes at Arena Corinthians

Luis Suarez has been included in the Uruguay starting XI for their crucial World Cup Group D fixture against England in Sao Paulo.

The Liverpool striker has only recently recovered from a knee injury and claimed that he would not play in the match at the Arena Corinthians unless he was 100 per cent fit.

But Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabarez admitted in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday that Suarez is key to his plans, regardless of whether he is short of match fitness.

“If he plays [against England] we must consider the possibility that he is not as fit as he was with Liverpool,” said the 67-year-old.

“But even if he is not 100%, he is important”.

The two sides head into the 21:00CET kick-off both looking to collect their first points of the tournament.

URUGUAY: Muslera, Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, A. Pereira, Gonzalez, Arevalo Rios, Lodeiro, Rodriguez, Cavani, Suarez.

The midfielder insists he will not contact his Liverpool team-mate directly before the Three Lions’ crucial Group D clash on Thursday

By Kris Voakes in Sao Paulo

Steven Gerrard insists he will not speak to Luis Suarez in the hours before England face Uruguay in their crunch Group D encounter.

After suffering a 2-1 defeat in their World Cup opener against Italy in Manaus, Roy Hodgson’s side are in need of a win to boost their hopes of progressing out of the group.

Uruguay, meanwhile, are also without a point in Group D having lost 3-1 to Costa Rica.

Doubts remain over the fitness of Suarez, who underwent knee surgery less than four weeks ago, but Gerrard maintains the forward’s potential return will boost Uruguay.

“I won’t speak to him tomorrow two hours before the game, it would be disrespectful to my team-mates,” said Gerrard.

“I have spoken to Luis and had some banter with him, but I won’t speak to him tomorrow.

“Luis Suarez is a genius, I’ve said it many times. It will be a boost for Uruguay and their supporters to have him back, but they are more than just Suarez. We have a game plan in place to try to win this football match.”

The Uruguay star may not be fully fit, but his national coach insists he is important to his team’s hopes against England on Thursday

Luis Suarez is important to Uruguay’s hopes of beating England even if he is not 100 per cent fit, his national coach Oscar Tabarez has admitted.

The two countries face off in Group D of the World Cup in Sao Paulo on Thursday, but there continue to be doubts over the star striker’s fitness following a knee injury which saw him miss out on the Celeste’s 3-1 loss to Costa Rica on Saturday.

But Tabarez insists that Suarez will be key, even if he is not at the level Liverpool fans have come to expect at kick-off time.

“Luis Suarez had a problem with an injury four weeks ago during training with the national team. He had a check-up, the doctors saw he had a problem with his left knee, the necessary measures were taken and he started his recovery,” explained Tabarez.

“He has recovered very well. His knee seems to have adapted to the training and to the work he has done, so he has been training and playing with his team-mates in the last week. Obviously that is not the same as a match.

“If he plays tomorrow we must consider the possibility that he is not as well as he is with Liverpool. But even if he is not 100%, he is important.”

Uruguay are still smarting from their opening game defeat, and Tabarez admits there is some concern over their World Cup hopes but his men will fight until the last to stay in the competition.

“Of course we are worried after starting the World Cup with a defeat, but it is not over. We are a team that’s always willing to fight and to recover,” insisted the head coach.

“We still have two games and tomorrow both teams need to win. We know our opponents will be hard to beat. The England team is very good at attacking, they have four very fast players who are always up front and they are very direct and pragmatic.

“But we have had similar situations which we have been able to overcome. This doesn’t mean that we’ll do it tomorrow, but we know that our team always fight until the end.”

The clash with England at the Arena Corinthians kicks off at 21:00CET on Thursday, and Uruguay finish off their Group D campaign against Italy in Natal on Tuesday.