Defender tells FATV exclusively about a hectic few days.

It’s been something of a whirlwind week for Michael Dawson, who was the latest player to join up with the England squad in South Africa as the start of the World Cup draws ever nearer.

The Tottenham Hotspur defender was amongst the seven players who were told last week that they wouldn’t be going to the competition as part of the 23 man squad, so he was on the verge of booking a summer holiday on Friday when the phone sounded again.

With news of captain Rio Ferdinand having injured his knee in training, Dawson was put on alert and just a few hours later he was on his way to Heathrow and a flight to South Africa.

He landed at the team hotel early on Saturday morning before joining in with training within 30 minutes of his arrival to cap what had been a diverse 24 hours.

"It's been a strange old week for myself,” he told FATV, in an exclusive interview on Sunday night.

“I got the call on Tuesday saying I wasn't on the plane, so I was just getting my head around it and trying to get a holiday sorted.

"It was then Friday morning and I was trying to book my holiday when I got the phone call saying to hold fire, as Rio was hurt.

"I got picked up an hour later, so there was no time to think about it.”

Watch FATV’s full interview with Michael right now, by clicking on the link to the right.