Kieron's World Cup odyssey will begin tomorrow when he will be one of nine passengers on a night flight from London to Dubai. F.A. Chief Executive Adam Crozier, F.A. Executive Director David Davies and F.A. Director of Marketing Paul Barber will be among the others taking the same BA plane that originally flew the rest of the World Cup squad out to their desert preparation camp on Monday.

The plane will touch down in Dubai on Saturday morning to pick up Sven and the squad to take them onto Korea for the next leg of the World Cup preparations on the idyllic Jeju Island in Korea.

It is there that Kieron will be able to stretch his legs…in more ways that one.

He has been invited to join up with the squad after England coach Sven Goran Eriksson had been given enough encouragement to believe that the flying Newcastle midfielder could yet race back into his World Cup plans.

Announcing the news to TheFA.com on Wednesday night, a clearly buoyed Sven said:

"This is very positive news. He will be coming out to join us and we will see what happens then.

"It seems that he can start running tomorrow and it's important that in the next few days, our medical staff get the chance to assess him in detail and see if he can prove his fitness.

"The important thing for any player at a World Cup is to be 100 per cent fit."

As for the rest of squad, they continued their own preparations in Dubai on Thursday with their second training session.

It was another light session to keep them in shape and though David Beckham, Sol Campbell and Nicky Butt did not take part, there is no major concern on that front.

The F.A.'s Head of Communications Paul Newman told TheFA.com: "There is nothing sinister in the trio not taking part in training today. It's a continuation of the careful preparation that has been specifically designed for each member for each member of the squad.

"They worked out in the gym rather than outside but everyone is still in good health and good spirits."

Once again, the training done, the players' time is their own as they enjoy their penultimate day in Dubai with their families.

As always, we'll continue to keep you right up to date with all the latest news from inside the England camp.