Henderson hopeful on fitness for World Cup semi-final

Jordan Henderson hopes to be fit to play in England's World Cup semi-final against Croatia on Wednesday.

The Liverpool midfielder was taken off five minutes from the end of the last-eight victory over Sweden at the weekend due to a tight hamstring.

But Henderson is confident the issue will not prevent him from lining up in Gareth Southgate's starting XI in Moscow.

"I was just a little bit tight before the game, so towards the last 20 minutes I just overstretched and I felt it a little bit," he said.

"But it doesn't feel too bad, so hopefully it'll be fine."

Henderson has not lost on any of his last 30 appearances for the Three Lions, a new record for the national team.

"We'll just have to assess people as we go. Hendo was one who was feeling tightness in his hamstring, which was why we made the change. We'll just have to assess the bodies," said Southgate.

"They've been through a lot. You get an accumulation of fatigue through a tournament and that's why we took the decision we did against Belgium [to make changes] more than anything."

England face Croatia at 7pm BST on Wednesday night at the Luzhniki Stadium, with the winners to meet either Belgium or France in the final on Sunday.

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