GARY NEVILLE and Les Ferdinand were the only training ground absentees as England went through their first public paces on French soil yesterday afternoon.
Manchester United defender Neville was replaced by Martin Keown for the last 20 minutes of Tuesday's behind closed-doors match against French Second Division side Caen, and it can be assumed he was resting a minor knock. Hoddle wanted to have all 22 players available for yesterday's workout, but although Neville and Tottenham striker Ferdinand were missing, there was some good news.
Central defender Sol Campbell, who hadn't trained since suffering a dead leg against Belgium 12 days ago, exercised alone under the supervision of physio Alan Smith while wing back Graeme Le Saux, laid low by a bout of flu in recent days, played a full part in what was a relatively low key and gentle session.
England went through their paces in front of an enthusiastic audience of local youngsters who had been allowed in and plied with gifts, including official England World Cup T-shirts. The international media also descended on La Baule for their first glimpse of Hoddle's men. Camera crews from across the world saw a relaxed and confident-looking England squad clearly enjoying the run out.

TUNISIANS EYE SECOND ROUND TUNISIA coach Henry Kasperczak believes his team are "tactically ready" to face England in Monday's Group G opener in Marseille. Saturday's thumping 4-0 win over Wales has left Kasperczak full of confidence and aiming to progress beyond the group stage. But the Pole, who arrived in France with his squad on Tuesday, knows that will be a tall order with Colombia and Romania also in their group. Our rivals in the group all have well-established footballing traditions," he said. "The important thing for us is to put on a good show and try to reach the second round. England have a squad of players who are physically and technically very strong and are one of the favourites to win the World Cup. Colombia can beat anyone on their day but tend to be inconsistent. As for Romania, they have already proved themselves internationally in the qualifiers." Kasperczak has upset England's World Cup plans before he was in the Poland side that stopped them qualifying for the 1974 finals. After arriving at their headquarters, Tunisia played a 30-minute practice match followed by a light physical workout, with their coach claiming: "The team has found an effective pattern in attack and is tactically ready." Defender Sirajeddine Chihi had to leave the session early suffering from a slight fever but fellow defender Mounir Boukadida is fully fit after a groin strain kept him out of the Wales match.

SHEARER: �LET'S GET STUCK IN' ALAN SHEARER doesn't need telling what a huge burden of public expectation will rest on his shoulders over the next few weeks. Relaxing in the England training camp at La Baule on France's west coast, the England captain said: ''People still talk about 1966 and it would be nice if they could be talking about 1998. We've got a very, very good chance and there's no point in going into a tournament unless we believe we can win it. We all believe that and we believe in our ability as a squad. The one thing you can't determine is luck, but if we get our share of that then we've got a good chance." After netting five goals in Euro 96, the Newcastle striker is hoping to complete a pair of championship golden boots. ''Hopefully I will score, but I can't create goals myself, he said. I need players to create them for me. If they do, I hope I'm in the right place to put them away. There aren't many things I haven't done yet, but one of those is leading England into the World Cup finals and I'm extremely proud of doing that.'' Even so, Shearer admits that the level of World Cup fever already being exhibited has surprised him: ''We're all excited and raring to go. We've worked extremely hard, the hardest I've known. Now we want to get stuck into the competition.''

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