WORLD CUP 2010: England manager Fabio Capello launches his crock watch

By Matt Lawton for the Daily Mail Updated: 03:57 EST, 5 May 2010

Fabio Capello has dispatched his medical team on a nationwide tour to check on England's injured players before naming his provisional 30-man World Cup squad on Tuesday.

National team doctor Ian Beasley organised meetings with the medical staff at all the clubs concerned before reporting back to Capello on the fitness of at least 11 players.

Capello is concerned about some key men and wants to have the latest information on them before sitting down on Monday with his staff at Wembley and choosing the 30 players he will take to the training camp in Austria.

The main worry still surrounds his captain, Rio Ferdinand. While the word inside Old Trafford yesterday suggested the Manchester United defender has now recovered from the back and groin problems that have plagued him throughout the season, Capello wants an up-to-date report on his condition.

On a positive note, Ferdinand did play after coming off the substitutes' bench at Sunderland on Sunday, albeit shortly before the final whistle. Ferdinand's fitness is key to other decisions the Italian will then make about the defence.

The England boss is nervous about taking Tottenham's Ledley King because of his troublesome knees if doubts remain about Ferdinand, and yesterday's news that Joleon Lescott will play no part in Manchester City's remaining two games means he will certainly be sweating on his place.

Lescott has been a regular in Capello's squads but a hamstring injury has kept him on the sidelines since March 21 and yesterday City manager Roberto Mancini said: 'Joleon does not play in the last two games. I don't know about the World Cup. He works every day to recover but I don't know.

'I don't know if Capello has spoken to Lescott. He has not spoken to me in the last 15 days. I hope for Joleon he can recover for the World Cup. After the Premier League he still has another 14 days. He can recover.'

That prognosis is unlikely to fill Capello with much confidence, especially when he also has similar concerns about defender Wes Brown. Brown has been named as a substitute by United boss Sir Alex Ferguson for the past two games.

But his lack of first-team action since March 6 because of a broken foot threatens his World Cup hopes, especially when Glen Johnson, for whom Brown is first-choice cover ahead of Gary Neville, who himself has had calf and knee problems, missed Liverpool's clash with Chelsea on Sunday because of a recurrence of a knee problem.

When the England medics visit United this week they are also expected to request an update on Owen Hargreaves, even if the chances of his making the squad look remote indeed. It is an interesting one for Capello, though.

No other England player can perform that midfield holding role as effectively as Hargreaves, as he demonstrated so impressively in the last World Cup, but a chronic knee condition meant that last weekend's brief appearance at Sunderland was his first for United since September 2008.

Given that he is unlikely to play much part in Sunday's home match against Stoke, it will be a question of whether two warm-up games against Mexico and Japan will be enough to get him ready for a tournament. Right now it looks like a long shot.

Fortunately for Capello, he does not have too many concerns in midfield. Aaron Lennon's groin remains a slight worry but, beyond the defensive problems, the injuries mainly come in attack. Wayne Rooney looks like he is now on the mend after those recent ankle and groin injuries but there are still doubts over the fitness of Jermain Defoe (hamstring) and Bobby Zamora (achilles).

Capello has long insisted that he would not take players struggling for form, fitness or regular first team football. But with 11 players troubled by injury and others struggling to secure regular first team football - most notably Emile Heskey and Peter Crouch - it looks like he will have little choice but to bend his own rules.

He will obviously have a clearer idea when the fitness reports are back on the injured players.